German authorities criticised by lawyer of politician accused of child pornography possession
Media reports speculate about a possible political blackmailing of Federal Police by its handling of child porn claims against former deputy Sebastian Edathy.
BERLIN
Former German lawmaker Sebastian Edathy's lawyer criticised German authorities' handling of an investigation into allegations of child pornography possession against Edathy.
In a statement issued Monday, Edathy's lawyer, Christian Noll, defended the former Social Democratic Party (SPD) deputy and said: "The investigating authorities have lost all sense of proportion in their dealings with Sebastian Edathy.
"Among the disregard of the presumption of innocence and the naming of details from his privacy, the violation of official secrets can be added," he said.
He accused the authorities of illegally providing the investigation file to the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. The newspaper reported on Sunday about specific photo and video orders against Edathy, referring to a note from the Federal Criminal Office (BKA).
The allegations, which Edathy denies, emerged publicly on February 10 when Hanover's prosecutor ordered a search of his apartment and offices. Edathy admitted to previously having purchased some material from a Canadian firm, who later were investigated for child pornography.
He insisted the material he purchased was "unambiguously legal."
Germany’s Federal Police (BKA) came under growing pressure on Monday after media reports revealed serious failures in the investigation of child porn claims against former deputy Sebastian Edathy.
Germany’s Bild newspaper reported on Monday that BKA received documents from Canadian authorities in October 2011 that involved possible child porn claims about deputy Sebastian Edathy, but it only conveyed documents to the state authorities in Lower Saxony two years after, in late 2013 for further investigation.
Edathy was a prominent member of the Social Democratic Party and became the chairman of a key committee in January 2012 at the Parliament, which was investigating failures of police and intelligence units in murders by the far-right National Socialist Underground (NSU) from 2000-2007. The committee led by Edathy questioned various BKA officials during years 2012-2013.
“Has the BKA deliberately ignored child porn claims against former deputy Sebastian Edathy for two years?” Bild newspaper asked in his report on Monday.
According to the daily, one of the possible explanations for BKA’s motive in holding the documents and delaying opening criminal charges against Edathy might have been to prevent a big political scandal at that time. But another possible explanation could be political blackmailing, according to Bild.
“The Federal Police may have preferred to hold these documents against Edathy to hand, to use them in case Edathy’s investigation on the NSU turned dangerous against the BKA,” Bild newspaper speculated.
German opposition parties have demanded an immediate explanation on the affair.
"It is absolutely implausible that the information on Edathy was not evaluated by BKA in those two years,” said Bernd Riexinger, co-chairman of the opposition Left Party. “What is much more likely is that the leaders of BKA knew about the documents against Edathy, when they were questioned by the NSU-committee,” he stressed.
The German public learned of the serious allegations against Edathy on February 10, when Hanover's prosecutor ordered a search of his apartment and offices.
Just two days before the search order, Edathy announced his resignation from parliament "for health reasons."
Edathy denied the allegations of possessing photographs and videos with child pornographic content, but admitted to having purchased some material by a Canadian firm in the past, which later had been under investigation for child pornography.
He insisted the material he purchased was "unambiguously legal."
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