The answers that Emanuel B. brought up in court sound convoluted, rehearsed: He had never refused an order, the penalty order was unclear, it was about the distinction between the corona vaccination date and corona vaccination and so on. “That’s not enough for me,” says district judge Kai Dingerdissen, and sentences the suspended Bundeswehr soldier to a fine of 900 euros for disobedience.
Corona has long since ceased to play a major role in everyday life, but the issue has by no means been dealt with in court. Sometimes it’s about mask deals, sometimes it’s fraud with corona aid – or, as in this case, about soldiers of the Bundeswehr who had refused a mandatory vaccination.
Prosecutor Juliane Grotz is responsible for criminal cases in Munich under the Military Criminal Law. On the one hand, she says, there are unauthorized absences by members of the Bundeswehr, soldiers who stay away from the office for two to three weeks. On the other hand, she also pursues disobedience, “and these are 100 percent soldiers who refuse a corona vaccination”.
For example, 27-year-old Emanuel B. He studied at the Bundeswehr University in Neubiberg and most recently worked as a tactical officer in the combat simulation center. Until he was suspended from duty. Since then he has not been allowed to wear a uniform, only receives half his salary and lives in his parents’ house, where he spends his time with “sports and chopping wood”, as he says.
At the end of November 2021, the lieutenant was informed in writing that a Covid vaccination was subject to the obligation to tolerate, that he had to make an appointment and inform the relevant superior. According to prosecutor Grotz, B. did not respond to the request, so he was given an appointment on December 6th. The soldier is said to have called in sick on the day of the vaccination.
As his disciplinary superior at the time explained on the witness stand, he had had a conversation with B. in the office and given him a new appointment in writing. There were even two other appointments when Emanuel B. appeared at the vaccination center but did not sign the vaccination information sheet and subsequently did not report his vaccination status. The witness said he didn’t say a word about why the 27-year-old didn’t want to be vaccinated.
“In the past three years there have been 68 layoffs”
When asked by SZ, a spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Defense explained that the obligation to tolerate certain vaccinations is a military feature that is anchored in the Soldiers’ Act. The aim of compulsory vaccination in the Bundeswehr is to “guarantee the protection of the operational readiness of the individual and the military community” against the spread of infectious diseases. Soldiers know that refusal to vaccinate could result in dismissal. “In the past three years there have been 68 layoffs” because of Covid vaccinations, says the spokesman.
Emanuel B., who appeared without a lawyer, demands an acquittal. Prosecutor Grotz says that the order was undoubtedly formulated in such a way that he should be vaccinated and not just “keep an appointment”. Soldiers would have to be vaccinated against many diseases, judge Dingerdissen said in the verdict, “everyone who goes into the armed forces knows that.” He could not understand B.’s persistent refusal. “Then you’ll just have to quit your job and work in the private sector,” he says. The Bundeswehr will now examine his case and decide whether to release him.