The Berlin Regional Court has rejected the Amri investigation committee’s request to force two investigators dealing with the Islamist attacker to give a statement by fines of up to 10,000 euros. They were accused of having manipulated the investigation files after the attack on Breitscheidplatz, in which Anis Amri killed twelve people.
The investigative committee of the House of Representatives wanted to question officials Tobias L. and Lars O. because of the allegations. Both had already refused to testify to the committee in April 2019, and the committee applied for a fine.
Now the regional court has granted the two officials a comprehensive right to refuse to testify: they would not have to expose themselves to the risk that new investigations will be opened against them as a result of their statements.
L. was the main clerk in the Amri case, O. his supervisor. Interior Senator Andreas Geisel (SPD) had filed a criminal complaint in the spring of 2017 after a tip from his special investigator Bruno Jost. The public prosecutor’s office stopped the investigation because of the allegation of frustrating criminal offenses in the office and the falsification of evidence-relevant data.
After the terrorist attack, the contents of the files were changed by an LKA investigator, eavesdropping protocols were evaporated and criminal activities of the Tunisian were “written in lower case” – from drug dealer to petty criminal. The necessary suspicion could not be proven, however, a criminal offense could not be established with the necessary certainty.
The U Committee wants to keep trying
From the police themselves, the interpretation is different: Because the accusation of thwarting punishment was about a different dealer. The investigation files of this suspect and Anis Amri should simply be separated after his death – with the knowledge of the public prosecutor.
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The committee chairman Stephan Lenz (CDU) said that the committee would now examine whether it would appeal against the decisions of the regional court in order to be able to question the officials. “We want to try everything to meet our duty to provide information,” said Lenz on Monday.
Despite the discontinued investigation, O. and L. had been subjected to disciplinary proceedings. In 2019 the police imposed a reprimand against L., the lowest disciplinary punishment. Geisel’s internal administration canceled this and imposed a fine of 800 euros.
L. complained against it. Nothing has been decided yet, because the staff council also complained because the internal administration had not heard it. O. did not receive a disciplinary punishment, and there was no evidence of a breach of duty related to file manipulation.
