Former German President Christian Wulff is going on trial accused of
receiving and granting favours in office.
He is alleged to have accepted the payment of hotel bills by a film
producer in return for lobbying while he was premier of Lower Saxony
in 2008.
Mr Wulff – who stepped down in February 2012 after less than two years
in the post – is Germany’s first head of state to go on trial since
Nuremberg.
The 54-year-old rejects the allegations and has vowed to clear his name.
Film producer David Groenewold also faces similar charges.
Offer rejected
Arriving in court in the northern city of Hannover, Mr Wulff said:
“This is not an easy day for me.”
But he said he was certain he would dispel the allegations against him
“because I always behaved correctly in office”.
Mr Wulff is alleged to have allowed film producer David Groenewold to
pay hotel bills in Munich during the Oktoberfest beer festival in 2008
and on the northern island of Sylt in 2007.
In return, Mr Wulff is accused of having lobbied German companies to
support Mr Groenewold’s work.
Prosecutors had sought to put the former president on trial for
corruption, but the court only approved the less serious charges.
If convicted, he faces up to three years in jail or a fine.
Mr Wulff and Mr Groenewold had rejected an offer from the prosecutor
in March to settle the case with a fine – a procedure allowed for
cases not considered especially serious.
The former president of the Bundestag (the lower house of parliament)
Wolfgang Thierse, from the rival Social Democrats, told German radio
that the prosecution of Mr Wulff was “somewhat out of proportion”.
“He’s already been punished enough by the whole affair and his
resignation,” he said.
Nevertheless Mr Thierse was very critical of his behaviour in office,
saying “he gave the impression he wanted to make use of every
advantage he had”.
‘Angry message’
Mr Wulff, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s choice for president, resigned
amid a welter of unfavourable coverage in the German media dealing
with his links to businessmen.
The pressure on him increased at the end of December 2011 with
allegations, published in the mass circulation Bild newspaper, about a
low interest home loan received from the wife of a wealthy businessman
in 2008.
He was accused of giving misleading statements about the loan and
later apologised to the editor of Bild, Kai Diekmann, for leaving an
angry message on his voicemail threatening him if the story was
published.
Mrs Merkel had pushed strongly to get Mr Wulff, from her centre-right
CDU party, appointed to the largely ceremonial post in 2010.
At the time of his resignation, she said she accepted it “with respect
but also with regret” and that she was convinced he had “acted
legally”.
Mr Wulff was succeeded by the Lutheran pastor and former East German
anti-communist campaigner, Joachim Gauck.
The last German head of state to face charges in court was Adolf
Hitler’s successor Admiral Karl Doenitz, who was convicted at the
Nuremburg trials of war crimes. BBC News
