Corruption: German former Ministry of Health must disclose emails about corona mask deals, says a court ruling

The mask affair is considered the biggest controversy of German ex-Health Minister Jens Spahn. According to a court ruling, various documents are now to be released.

According to a ruling, the Federal Ministry of Health is to publish information about the procurement of FFP2 masks in the wake of the corona pandemic. That was decided by the administrative court in Cologne in two judgments, according to a statement on Friday. During the corona pandemic, the Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn (CDU) was criticized because he is said to have procured masses of overpriced masks.

According to the court, the ministry should publish the expert opinions and the statements of a consulting company and a law firm. The e-mail correspondence between Spahn and an entrepreneur also falls under the obligation to hand over. This is said to have received millions in commission for brokering the mask deals.

Mask deals: Ministry of Health wanted to withhold information
According to the information, numerous civil law proceedings are currently underway at the Bonn Regional Court to clarify whether mask suppliers have fulfilled their contractual obligations. The Ministry of Health has so far rejected requests to view information about mask procurement. The Cologne judges now contradicted this in their judgments.

The administrative court largely agreed with the plaintiffs. The judges did not see that a review of the documents would mean a “disproportionate administrative burden” for the ministry. The court only saw the obligation to surrender limited where the e-mail correspondence contained “business secrets”. It is up to the Ministry to check this. The judgments are not yet final.

Source: Berliner Zeitung

Photo: Michael Kappeler / DPA