His verdict against a mask requirement in two schools had caused heated discussions. Now the Weimar magistrate is indicted. The prosecutor's allegations are varied.
Weimar/Jena (dpa/th) - The public prosecutor's office in Erfurt has brought charges of perverting the law against a district judge in Weimar. The public prosecutor's office announced on Thursday that she had gone to the district court of Erfurt. Last year, the judge made a controversial decision against the obligation to wear masks in two schools to contain corona infections. The public prosecutor accuses him of having arbitrarily issued an order as a family judge in April 2021. His jurisdiction is questionable.
According to the public prosecutor's office, the accused "consciously and seriously departed from the law". He was concerned with “publicizing the alleged ineffectiveness and harmfulness of government measures to combat the corona pandemic”.
The lawyer had issued an interim order that children at two schools in Weimar did not have to wear corona masks in class, contrary to the applicable hygiene concept of the Ministry of Education. The decision was discussed and criticized nationwide.
According to the public prosecutor's office, the accused disregarded several elementary procedural regulations and violated substantive law. He is said to have exceeded his authority. He is said to have made a decision on Corona rules for which family courts are not responsible. In addition, he is said to have extended his decision to those affected "for whom he was not the legal judge according to the business allocation plan".
The man is also accused of actively looking for parents who were critical of the mask requirement in schools. In addition, he is said to have ensured "that the results of the expert reports commissioned later correspond to his ideas," the public prosecutor said. The penal code provides for imprisonment of one to five years for perverting the law.
The decisions of the Weimar judge against the corona mask requirement in Thuringia at the time were later overturned by the Higher Regional Court in Jena. The judicial control of state orders for corona protection is "solely the responsibility of the administrative courts," the reasoning said.
