VW diesel affair
Process for VW diesel fraud: Defender call for acquittal
After more than three and a half years of trial, the prosecutors are certain of having convicted former VW employees of the fraud. Defenders come to a different result and attack the investigators.
In the criminal trial for the VW diesel affair against four former managers and engineers, the defenders’ defenders want to obtain an acquittal for their client. The lawyers’ team of the former head of the aggregate development at VW in the Braunschweig district court announced this claim. The public prosecutor had asked for four years in prison for the 59-year-old.
The defendant’s defense sharply attacked the work of the prosecutors on Monday. A lawyer described the prosecutor’s arguments as cynical and spoke of sometimes nonsensical claims. The allegations are not to be verified, said a colleague. The lawyers announced that the lectures for their client alone will take several hours. At first it remained open whether the first plea on Monday was completed.
Criminal trucks see proven fraud
The four former managers and engineers have been standing in front of a business criminal chamber in the Lower Saxony city since September 2021. From the point of view of the prosecutors, after three and a half years of trial, they are transferred to the fraud with 168 days of negotiations and around 150 witnesses. In a more than four -hour final plea, the law enforcement officers had therefore asked for between four years in prison and two years on probation.
In September 2015, it became known in the United States that VW had used a deception on a large scale that recognized exhaust gas tests and only then activated the full cleaning of emissions. The scandal became known worldwide as “diesel gate” and plunged the Wolfsburg carmaker into a deep crisis.
After many years it remains: statement stands against statement
To date, the question remains, who knew what about the secret program. In the current Braunschweig process, statement against statement is made. Engineers who are said to have proposed the switch -off device say accordingly: we have expressed concerns and warned of consequences. The superiors answer: Problems were talked about, but never about illegal action.
It was originally planned that the former Volkswagen group boss Martin Winterkorn will sit on the dock. However, his process part was separated before the start in September 2021 for health reasons. It is unclear whether and when the procedural complex can start again against winter grain.
Plea for several hours will continue this week
The defense lawyers in the fraud process are to be continued on Wednesday (May 7th). It is expected that the final statements for the accused could continue to take several hours, possibly entire trial days. It is therefore not foreseeable when this huge procedure will end with a judgment.
dpa
Source: Stern
