rbb affair: Attorney General Berlin takes over investigations in the Schlesinger case

In the rbb affair about the resigned director Patricia Schlesinger, the Berlin public prosecutor’s office has taken over the investigation. This was confirmed by the authority on Thursday rbb24 research.

The reason given was the importance of the case. Sebastian Büchner, spokesman for the Berlin public prosecutor’s office, said that while the public prosecutor’s office automatically takes over the investigations in the case of crimes that endanger the state, such as terrorism, they can also take over the investigations in individual cases as a superior service authority.

This happens in cases “of outstanding importance” on which one wants to place a special focus. This was such a case-by-case decision, said Büchner on rbb24 Inforadio. When asked whether the Schlesinger case had become a “top priority in the judiciary”, Bühner said yes: “You can say that.”

According to Büchner, the process “actually draws circles”, “many people” are involved and because of the importance of public broadcasting and the allegations related to it.

On Monday, the Berlin public prosecutor’s office confirmed to rbb that that she is investigating against Schlesinger, her husband and the rbb chairman of the board of directors, Wolf-Dieter Wolf, who has since resigned. The allegations against Schlesinger are numerous. They essentially concern the question of whether she could have improperly mixed up private and official matters. At the same time, it is about whether she was too careless with consultancy contracts.

Specifically, the suspicion of infidelity and the acceptance of benefits is being investigated. From the legal penal framework, both offenses would not take anything, “from the other side, offenses of accepting benefits would be the more serious, because of course the question of the reputation of public broadcasting and public service is more connected,” said Büchner.

It was also announced that the meeting of the rbb broadcasting council was brought forward from Tuesday to Monday next week. It should be about the details of the separation from Schlesinger.

The modalities of her departure from the broadcaster are still open. There was also speculation about a possible severance payment for Schlesinger. The employment relationship would nominally end at the end of February 2023, Schlesinger was ready to shorten it – if it was ensured that it was a “contractual waiver”.

In the past few days, further breaches of duty have become known, said the Broadcasting Council member and media policy spokesman for the Brandenburg SPD parliamentary group, Erik Stohn: “As a body, we do not shy away from urging Ms Schlesinger to take recourse if necessary.”

However, the broadcasting council must act with legal security and also protect the financial position of rbb, Stohn told the evangelical press service with a view to a possible legal dispute over the separation of the broadcaster from Schlesinger. It is perfectly legitimate for the committee to take the necessary time to make decisions on the subject.

Broadcast: rbb24 Inforadio, August 11, 2022, 1:00 p.m