On which topics is the representative of the state of Saxony-Anhalt allowed to comment on the processing of the SED dictatorship? Lawyers in the state parliament have come to a clear assessment.
Magdeburg (dpa/sa) - The Legislative and Advisory Service (GBD) of the state parliament came to the conclusion in a report that a public positioning by Saxony-Anhalt's processing officer Birgit Neumann-Becker in March was not covered by her statutory tasks. In the press release that was sent, "no connection with the exercise of the office of the state commissioner was discernible," according to the GBD's statement. The area of responsibility of the processing officers is "clearly limited to the area of the state of Saxony-Anhalt".
The trigger for the legal assessment commissioned by SPD member of the state parliament Rüdiger Erben was a debate about the chairman of the Bundestag sports committee and biathlon Olympic champion Frank Ullrich (SPD) and his work on the supervisory board of the National Anti-Doping Agency (Nada). . There were allegations against Ullrich in connection with doping in the GDR.
In this context, Neumann-Becker had declared at the end of March that Ullrich's appointment to the supervisory board was "given his own unclear doping past, a devastating signal and a slap in the face to the victims of the GDR doping system, who are still suffering from the health consequences today". . She stated "an unclear relationship to the SED dictatorship" and also referred to a conversation between Ullrich and the "Thuringian General". According to Neumann-Becker, one looks in vain for empathy for the victims of the SED dictatorship. "To date, Frank Ullrich has not taken part in dealing with the political exploitation of sport in the GDR and the use of doping."
SPD politician Erben told the German Press Agency that he shares the assessment of the state parliament lawyers that such a statement is not one of Neumann-Becker's tasks. "I was surprised that the processing officer was doing an interview with a member of the Bundestag from Thuringia." According to Erben, he assumes that in future she will take account of the connection to the country in her work.
When asked, Neumann-Becker stated that she did not comment on the paper from the legislative and advisory service. But: "Advising doping victims is my responsibility. In Saxony-Anhalt there are victims, we have had a focus there for years."
The legal assessment has no consequences for Neumann-Becker for the time being. "It is an opinion of the legislative and advisory service from which no further consequences follow immediately," said a spokeswoman for the parliament on request.
Frank Ullrich finally resigned from his position on the Nada Supervisory Board in April. In a statement, he denied the allegations made. He "had not taken any doping drugs himself, nor instructed them to be taken, or administered any to athletes himself, nor did he monitor or control their intake."
