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German Prosecutors Drop Sabotage Case Against Shipyard Workers
🇩🇪 Germany /Conflict & Security

German Prosecutors Drop Sabotage Case Against Shipyard Workers

From Die Zeit · () German

Translated from German, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Sources not specified Outcome reported
  • German prosecutors have dropped sabotage charges against two former shipyard workers accused of tampering with naval corvettes.
  • While manipulation of the ships is believed to have occurred, prosecutors could not definitively prove which of the two suspects was responsible.
  • The investigation was hampered by the inability to establish a shared criminal plan between the accused, leaving the perpetrators of the sabotage unclear.

Prosecutors in Hamburg, Germany, have closed the investigation into two former shipyard workers accused of sabotaging naval corvettes destined for the German Navy. The General Public Prosecutor's Office in Hamburg stated that while manipulations on the corvettes are believed to have occurred, they could not establish with sufficient certainty which of the two suspects committed the acts.

While manipulations on the corvettes are believed to have occurred, it could not be established with the certainty required for an indictment who of the two accused committed the alleged act.

— Mia Sperling-Karstens, spokesperson for the General Public Prosecutor's Office HamburgExplaining the reason for dropping the charges.

The two men, a 38-year-old Romanian and a 55-year-old Greek, were arrested in February. However, their arrest warrants were lifted in March due to a lack of urgent suspicion, and they have since been released. They were employed at the Blohm+Voss shipyard in Hamburg and were suspected of carrying out sabotage acts on several corvettes last year.

Allegations included introducing over 20 kilograms of abrasive material into the engine block of one ship, damaging freshwater supply lines, removing fuel tank caps, and deactivating circuit breakers for the ship's electronics on the corvette 'Köln'. However, the prosecution could not definitively link specific actions to either suspect or prove they acted with a shared criminal intent, which would have been necessary for mutual attribution of their actions.

It was also not possible to sufficiently prove that the two acted as co-perpetrators with a conscious and intentional common plan.

— Mia Sperling-Karstens, spokesperson for the General Public Prosecutor's Office HamburgFurther elaborating on the lack of evidence for a joint criminal enterprise.

The identity of those behind the sabotage remains unclear. Germany's military intelligence service, the MAD, has previously warned of espionage and sabotage activities originating from Russia, identifying the German armed forces as particularly vulnerable institutions. In response to such threats, Germany tightened laws in January against "throwaway agents" – individuals without intelligence training who are recruited, often via social media, to cause targeted damage for foreign powers.

The military intelligence service MAD has warned of espionage and sabotage activities from Russia in its latest annual report.

— Article TextProviding context on potential foreign threats.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Die Zeit in German. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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