As a witness against Faeser: Seehofer wants to testify in Schönbohm affair

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Ex-Interior Minister Seehofer (CSU) in October 2021

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POOL / REUTERS

Ex-BSI chief Arne Schönbohm is taking action against the Federal Ministry of the Interior after his transfer – he is suing for damages. Now he is getting support from the former head of the department: Ex-Federal Minister of the Interior Horst Seehofer (CSU) wants to testify as a witness in the affair before the Administrative Court of Cologne against his former department. "Of course I am available to the court as a witness," Seehofer told the Bild newspaper. As a minister, I have always been very satisfied with the cyber defence under Arne Schönbohm," he stressed.

The former president of the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), Arne Schönbohm, had sued Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) over his transfer and named Faeser's predecessor Seehofer as a witness. Schönbohm's lawyer justified the action to the »Bild« newspaper with the fact that Faeser's ministry could fall back on evidence from the filing cabinets of the house in the dispute, while the former cyber defense chief himself, on the other hand, was left blank.

Thus, the dismissed head of the authority is only left with witness evidence that the ministry had no dissatisfaction before Faeser took office. The brief states that Seehofer is "happy to confirm that during his term of office the cooperation with the plaintiff was always good, trusting and successful."

Faeser had dismissed Schönbohm as head of the BSI last year because of alleged proximity to Russia. Shortly before, the ZDF satirical program "Magazin Royale" by Jan Böhmermann had reported on Schönbohm's contacts with a dubious cyber lobby association that had ties to Russia. However, no solid accusations against the official could be derived from this. The CDU/CSU criticized Faeser's move as premature.

The "Bild" newspaper, among others, had reported that Faeser had asked the Office for the Protection of the Constitution to collect information on the deposed head of the agency. Schönbohm later filed a lawsuit.

col/AFP