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Prosecutors in Tübingen seek to fine scientists over monkey experiments

German prosecutors said on Tuesday they have asked judges to fine three scientists at the prestigious Max Planck Institutes for animal cruelty over experiments on monkeys' brains.

Published: 20 February 2018 12:10 CET

Prosecutors in Tübingen seek to fine scientists over monkey experiments

File photo of a monkey in Magdeburg. Photo: DPA

Investigators in southwestern university town Tübingen said the three men aged between 49 and 67 were accused of “ending experiments on three monkeys too late and thereby causing the animals ongoing pain for a longer period.”

In German law, animal cruelty can be punished with a sentence of up to three years in jail, depending on the seriousness of the crime.

SEE ALSO: VW hid 'devastating' results from diesel exhaust tests on monkeys

This case deals with experiments by the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics that were approved by authorities — on the condition that the monkeys be killed if signs of suffering became apparent.

“Against the specified conditions for ending the experiment, (the accused) delayed in euthanising the animals, thereby causing significant and longer-lasting harm to their well-being,” the prosecutors said.

“The accused should have recognized their obligation to intervene,” they added.

German prosecutors drop investigation into 'unforeseeable' flood disaster

The public prosecutor’s office in Koblenz has closed the investigation into the deadly flood disaster in the Ahr valley that occurred in the summer of 2021.

A sufficient suspicion against the former Ahr district administrator Jürgen Pföhler (CDU) and an employee from the crisis team has not arisen, announced the head of the public prosecutor’s office in Koblenz, Mario Mannweiler, on Thursday.

Following the flood disaster in the Ahr region in Rhineland-Palatinate – in which 136 people died in Germany and thousands of homes were destroyed – there were accusations that the district of Ahrweiler, with Pföhler at the helm, had acted too late in sending flood warnings.

An investigation on suspicion of negligent homicide in 135 cases began in August of 2021. Pföhler had always denied the allegations.

READ ALSO: UPDATE – German prosecutors consider manslaughter probe into deadly floods

The public prosecutor’s office came to the conclusion that it was an extraordinary natural disaster: “The 2021 flood far exceeded anything people had experienced before and was subjectively unimaginable for residents, those affected, emergency services and those responsible for operations alike,” the authority said.

Civil protections in the district of Ahrweiler, including its disaster warning system, were found to be insufficient.

READ ALSO: Germany knew its disaster warning system wasn’t good enough – why wasn’t it improved?

But from the point of view of the public prosecutor’s office, these “quite considerable deficiencies”, which were identified by an expert, did not constitute criminal liability.

Why did the case take so long?

The investigations had dragged on partly because they were marked by considerable challenges, said the head of the Rhineland-Palatinate State Criminal Police Office, Mario Germano. “Namely, to conduct investigations in an area marked by the natural disaster and partially destroyed. Some of the people we had to interrogate were severely traumatised.”

More than 300 witnesses were heard including firefighters, city workers and those affected by the flood. More than 20 terabytes of digital data had been secured and evaluated, and more than 300 gigabytes were deemed relevant to the proceedings.

Pföhler, who stopped working as the district administrator in August 2021 due to illness, stepped down from the role in October 2021 citing an incapacity for duty.

The conclusion of the investigation had been postponed several times, in part because the public prosecutor’s office wanted to wait for the outcome of the investigative committee in the Rhineland-Palatinate state parliament.

READ ALSO: Volunteer army rebuilds Germany’s flood-stricken towns

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