Frankfurt's Lord Mayor Peter Feldmann (SPD) has been in court since Tuesday on suspicion of corruption.

The public prosecutor's office accuses the 64-year-old politician of having accepted donations and other benefits as an official from the Arbeiterwohlfahrt (AWO).

In return, he wanted to benevolently consider the interests of the social association.

At the start of the trial on Tuesday, a prosecutor read out the indictment.

Feldmann said he wanted a fair trial.

Again he protested his innocence.

The case against the SPD politician, who has been the mayor of Frankfurt for ten years, is connected to the so-called AWO scandal involving former leading functionaries of the association in Frankfurt and Wiesbaden.

Feldmann's partner at the time was given the management of an AWO day-care center in 2015 without any management experience and received a significantly excessive salary and a company car "without any objective reason", according to the indictment.

The couple have since married and are currently divorcing.

Feldmann's wife has paid back excessive payments.

Investigations are also underway against them.

The reports about the excessive salary and the company car triggered the AWO scandal in 2019.

"Fair and unbiased clarification"

In addition, the AWO supported Feldmann in the 2018 election campaign by raising donations, said public prosecutor Johannes Schmidt.

He named a sum of almost 6,000 euros.

In return, Feldmann had tacitly agreed with those responsible at the time at the AWO that he would support the association's concerns - at the center of this was a conflict with the city of Frankfurt over the costs of accommodating refugees.

Feldmann wrote to a former leader of the AWO, who has since been accused of possible serious fraud, via smartphone: "We have to be able to rely on each other".

Both would have exchanged views on the subject in a café.

Feldmann asked the responsible head of department on the sidelines of a theater premiere to reach an agreement with the AWO.

The mayor, who is currently being voted out of office, said at the beginning of the trial on Tuesday: "I would like a fair and unbiased clarification." At the next hearing next week (October 27), the defense wants to comment on the allegations.

Application for rejection against the presiding judge

In a longer written statement from Feldmann, it was said on Tuesday that he had not received or received any donations from the AWO, and that the new AWO board had also confirmed this.

Feldmann also criticized the fact that the public prosecutor's office had not seen any criminal behavior in his case for a long time, but that this changed shortly before the 2020 local elections - and was announced in a press release.

Feldmann's lawyer, David Hofferbert, said on the fringes of the hearing that he had filed a motion to dismiss the presiding judge because he was married to the spokeswoman for the public prosecutor's office and therefore could not make neutral decisions about the authority's press work.

The city council's vote-out procedure against Feldmann runs until November 6th.

The largest opposition party, the CDU, and the Frankfurt coalition parties are currently campaigning in a joint campaign to have Feldmann voted out of office – including his own party, the SPD.