The Federal Court of Justice sees no criminal bribery in the behavior of the former member of the Bundestag Georg Nüßlein and the Bavarian member of the state parliament Alfred Sauter in the CSU mask affair. The Court rejected the complaints of the Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office against decisions of the Higher Regional Court.
The Federal Court of Justice does not see the allegation of bribery against a Bavarian member of the state parliament and a former member of the Bundestag in the mask affair. Complaints by the Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office against three decisions by criminal divisions of the Munich Higher Regional Court had been rejected, the court announced in Karlsruhe on Tuesday. A further challenge to the decision is now no longer permissible.
In the first phase of the corona pandemic, the long-standing CSU MPs Alfred Sauter and Georg Nüßlein mediated the purchase of masks by the federal government and the Bavarian state government – and received lavish commissions for this. According to the BGH, a GmbH whose managing director is Nüßlein received 660,000 euros. A company over which Sauter has a significant influence even received more than 1.2 million euros.
Although the Federal Court of Justice has come to the conclusion that the two former CSU deputies have not committed a crime, the CSU still thinks it is right that it distanced itself from the long-standing party members. “The legal acquittal does not make up for the moral guilt. One thing is clear: As a member of parliament, you must not enrich yourself in a serious emergency situation like the Corona crisis. We as the CSU have therefore acted quickly and consistently,” said CSU General Secretary Martin Huber of the ” Augsburger Allgemeine” (Wednesday edition).
The Higher Regional Court of Munich had also ruled before the Federal Court of Justice that this did not constitute bribery. According to the BGH, the members of parliament should have taken action themselves. “The mere agreement between those involved that the elected representative refers to his status in extra-parliamentary activities in order to influence official decisions in the interests of a private entrepreneur does not fulfill this characteristic,” the BGH ruled.
Nüßlein, who once sat in the Bundestag for the CSU, left the CSU as a result of the affair, and Sauter, a member of the state parliament, left the parliamentary group. Sauter also relinquished all party offices, in particular his seats on the CSU board and presidium as well as the CSU district chairmanship in Günzburg.
