Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) - In the case of the so-called letter affair about Interior Minister Thomas Strobl (CDU), the district court in Stuttgart is now on the train. The public prosecutor's office sent the files to the responsible regional court, as a spokesman for the authorities announced on Friday in Stuttgart. The court had been asked to grant approval for the termination of the proceedings against Strobl and an accused journalist.
Strobl had already stated that he wanted to pay a fine of 15,000 euros so that the proceedings against him would be dropped. He had forwarded a lawyer's letter from the police inspector's lawyer to a journalist. The public prosecutor said that they wanted to refrain from prosecuting the journalist because of his insignificance and had therefore asked for his position. She investigated on suspicion of prohibited communications about court hearings.
Strobl has been under pressure for a long time because of the matter. The opposition demanded his resignation. However, the green-black coalition in the southwest has closed ranks behind the minister and rejected a motion to dismiss the CDU state leader. In addition, a committee of inquiry is currently examining sexual harassment by the police, as well as the practice of promotion and Strobl's actions.
The public prosecutor's office had recently brought charges against the suspended police inspector for the state of Baden-Württemberg. He is charged with a crime of sexual assault. According to the investigation, he is said to have sexually harassed a police officer in Stuttgart almost a year ago. His lawyer had regretted the indictment given the current evidence. "My client will now consistently defend himself in the upcoming main hearing with a view to an acquittal," Waiblingen lawyer Jens Rabe said on request.
