Trial of former German MPs starts in Munich 

ArmInfo. A trial on corruption in PACE has begun in Munich.  Two former Bundestag members are in the dock. They are accused of actions paid for from Baku in the interests of Azerbaijan, DW reports. 

The source notes that the death of the Bundestag member of the  Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Karin Strenz was the culmination,  but not the end, of the "Azerbaijani scam" - a corruption scandal  that erupted in the spring of 2018. Then it turned out that a number  of members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe  (PACE) received bribes from Baku for lobbying the interests of the  Azerbaijani authorities in Europe. Karin Strenz was one of them. And  this Thursday, January 16, the trial of four more defendants in the  "Azerbaijani scam" began in Munich. Two of them are also former  members of the Bundestag: conservatives Axel Fischer from the CDU and  Eduard Lintner from the CSU.

DW notes that the Munich court is a kind of premiere. For the first  time in German legal practice, we are talking about the application  of paragraph 108e of the Criminal Code of the Federal Republic of  Germany - "Bribery of a holder of parliamentary powers."

The first paragraph of this article reads: "Whoever, as a member of  the national parliament of the Federation or the Lander, demands an  undue advantage for himself or a third party, receives a  corresponding promise or accepts this advantage as a  counter-obligation in exchange for performing or not performing a  certain act in accordance with an order or instruction given to him  in the exercise of his parliamentary powers, shall be punished with  imprisonment for a term of one to ten years, or in less serious  cases, six months to five years." Since 2014, this paragraph also  applies to members of international parliamentary organizations.

The Higher Regional Court has scheduled 39 hearings for the trial.  The verdict is due on 22 August.

Lintner was a member of the Bundestag for 33 years, served as State  Secretary in the Federal Ministry of the Interior during the  Chancellorship of Helmut Kohl and sat in PACE. It was there, the  prosecutor's office believes, that he lobbied for the interests of  Baku, receiving over three million euros for this purpose through  front companies from Azerbaijan, which he spent, among other things,  on bribing other members of the assembly so that they would vote  "correctly". According to the investigation, Karin Strenz received a  total of 149,900 euros from him between 2014 and 2017.

Lintner himself acted as an "independent observer" at the elections  in Azerbaijan, compiling reports on them that were flattering to Baku  - much less critical than those of the OSCE observers. When the scam  was uncovered in 2017 thanks to a journalistic investigation, Lintner  began to claim that he received money exclusively for the work of his  "Society for the Promotion of German-Azerbaijani Relations".

The prosecutor's office came upon Axel Fischer's trail during  searches conducted at the home and offices of Lintner and Strenz, the  investigation into whom was dropped after her death.

Fischer, a member of the Bundestag from 1998 to 2021, and a member of  PACE since 2010, where he even served as chairman of the European  People's Party faction for a long time, is accused of bribery and  abuse of parliamentary powers. The prosecutor's office believes that  in 2011 he offered his services to a representative of Azerbaijan.  Subsequently, Fischer, for money, "acted on instructions in the  interests of Azerbaijan." Such actions included, in particular,  "positive speeches," "prompt transfer of confidential documents" and  "voting" in the way Baku wanted.

From 2011 to 2014, Fischer, according to the investigation, received  58 thousand euros for his services, from 2015 to 2016 - another  26,300 euros. The money was transferred to him in cash by the same  Lintner.

During the investigation of the "Azerbaijani scam", searches were  conducted in 20 apartments and offices, examination of material  evidence was carried out at the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA),  requests for legal assistance were sent, in particular, to Cyprus,  Liechtenstein, Belgium, Estonia, Latvia, Switzerland, Turkey and to  Azerbaijan itself.

The indictment takes up 160 pages, the investigation materials - 46  archival folders.

According to witnesses, PACE deputies received valuable gifts from  representatives of Azerbaijan, for example, jars of black caviar, or  simply envelopes with cash. One Swiss MP said that during one of her  official visits to Baku, she found a gold necklace with pearls and  diamonds on the table in her hotel room.