Immunity as a member of parliament - investigations against Berlin SPD politicians

The investigations against the Berlin SPD state chairman Steffen Krach are suspended because of his immunity as a member of the House of Representatives. The Hanover public prosecutor's office said at the request of the German Press Agency that no investigations have been carried out against him since the inaugural session of Parliament on October 29th. The “Tagesspiegel” first reported on the interruption.

The background to the investigation is the bidding process for the sale of the clinic site in Lehrte near Hanover. Confidential information about a competing offer is said to have been passed on to a bidder.

As part of the investigation, which fell into the Berlin election campaign, emergency services also searched Krach's offices in Hanover, his apartment in the Berlin district of Schöneberg and the SPD state party headquarters in Berlin-Wedding. Among other things, Krach's cell phone was seized. Krach himself had rejected the allegations as baseless.

Spokesman: “The public prosecutor’s office is examining the next steps”

The interruption of the investigation against Krach is based on his parliamentary immunity and does not represent a decision on the legitimacy of the allegations. It left it open whether the authority wants to apply for the immunity to be lifted. “The public prosecutor’s office is examining how to proceed,” said spokesman Oliver Eisenhauer.