In Germany, a crown witness () is a witness in a criminal trial who testifies against accomplices in order to receive a lower sentence from the prosecution. Crown witnesses came to prominence during the

Red Army Faction The Red Army Faction (, ; RAF ),See the section "Name" also known as the Baader–Meinhof Group or Baader–Meinhof Gang ( ), was a West German far-left militant group founded in 1970 and active until 1998, considered a terrorist organisat ...

(RAF) trials in the 1970s. The

German Bar Association The German Bar Association (German: Deutscher Anwaltverein – DAV) is a voluntary association of German and German-speaking lawyers. It seeks to safeguard, protect and promote the professional and economic interests of the Bar, notary lawyers inc ...

has criticized the system, claiming that testimony by crown witnesses often obstructs trials.

History

Early crown witnesses

During the 1970s, a left-wing well organized wave of violence went through Germany and

Diether Posser Diether Posser (9 March 1922 in Essen – 9 January 2010 in Essen) was a German politician, representative of the Social Democratic Party. Life During his childhood in Essen he was influenced by the Lutheran church. After serving in the ...

, the Justice minister of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

at the time, wanted to enable that witnesses were allowed to testify in return for a lenient sentence or even a remuneration, if there was little to no chance to capture a prosecuted criminal without a crown witnesses testimony. Posser wanted to enable the prosecutor to release the crown witness, which was denied by the Bundesrat and also the Justice minister Johann Vogel, who presented a different draft law, which kept the authority at the court, and demanded at least a three year sentence for a murder. Four different attempts were presented, but in 1976, a crown witness rule was not included in the new anti terror legislation. There was no

witness protection program Witness protection is security provided to a threatened person providing testimonial evidence to the justice system, including defendants and other clients, before, during, and after trials, usually by police. While witnesses may only require p ...

in Germany as there was in the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

, which encouraged the murder of

Ulrich Schmücker Ulrich () is a Germanic given name derived from Old High German ''Uodalrich'', ''Odalric''. It is composed of the elements '' uodal-'' meaning "heritage" and ''-rih'' meaning "king, ruler". Attested from the 8th century as the name of Alamannic nobi ...

, a witness who testified against his accomplices. The crown witness Karl-Heinz Ruhland was sentenced only to four years, and pardoned after two years in prison. He later repented his testimony as he initially didn't receive a protection from the state. Only after he publicly announced that he was unsatisfied with the situation, he received protection and a monthly allowance. Per law, he would have deserved at least a verdict over five years imprisonment, as he confessed to having been involved in a bank robbery. Dierk Hoff, a crown witness who testified against

Andreas Baader Berndt Andreas Baader (6 May 1943 – 18 October 1977) was a West German communist and leader of the far-left terrorist organization Red Army Faction (RAF), also commonly known as the Baader-Meinhof Group. Life Andreas Baader was born in Mu ...

Jan-Carl Raspe Jan-Carl Raspe (24 July 1944 – 18 October 1977) was a member of the German far-left terrorist group the Red Army Faction (RAF). He was involved in five bomb attacks with four fatalities, was arrested in 1972 and committed suicide in custody ...

and

Gudrun Ensslin Gudrun Ensslin (; 15 August 1940 – 18 October 1977) was a German far-left terrorist and founder of the West German far-left militant group Red Army Faction (, or RAF, also known as the Baader-Meinhof Gang). After becoming involved with co-fou ...

enabling their life sentences, was sentenced to four years and eight months imprisonment, instead of receiving a life sentence for building the bombs for the RAF. The crown witness was also spared from a life sentence with his testimonies. By law he would have deserved a life sentence for his involvement in several bombings, murders and attempted murders. But he only received 10 years imprisonment, and was released after seven years. Because a witness would be able to be spared of a life imprisonment if he incriminated others, and other crown witnesses did not receive any protection, the treatment these crown witnesses received, was viewed as illegal by the media, but necessary by the prosecution.

Small crown witness rule

In 1981, there was issued a first so-called "small crown witness rule", which enabled witnesses in drug-related trials to receive a lower sentence. From 2000 onwards there was also a law that lowered the sentence of a witness who came to an agreement with the prosecution in trials concerning money-laundering. Both laws was later criticized by the German Bar Association.

Crown witness rule

A law called "crown witness rule" (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

:''Kronzeugenregelung'') concerning the testimony of a witness in terror related cases was introduced with the support of State Prosecutor

Kurt Rebmann Kurt Rebmann (30 May 1924 – 21 April 2005) was a German lawyer and from 1977 to 1990 'Generalbundesanwalt' ( Public Prosecutor General), the highest federal prosecutor of Germany. Life and achievements Rebmann was born in 1924 in the southweste ...

in 1989 during the Government of

Helmut Kohl Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (; 3 April 1930 – 16 June 2017) was a German politician who served as chancellor of Germany and governed the ''Federal Republic'' from 1982 to 1998. He was leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to ...

. Initially only valid until 1992, it was prolonged several times. The crown witness rule of 1989 was abolished in 1999. In 2009 a new crown witness rule came into force and since then, witnesses in cases of a wider range were allowed to become a crown witness.

Crown witnesses

The first witness who gave his testimony with this law, was Ali Cetiner. He was a crown witness in the Kurdish Trial in Düsseldorf, but his testimony was not very effective and of the initially 20 defendants only four were sentenced and two of the sentenced were released. The crown witness who testified against Kani Yılmaz, the PKK representative in Europe, committed suicide by

self-immolation Self-immolation is the act of setting oneself on fire. It is mostly done for political or religious reasons, often as a form of protest or in acts of martyrdom, and known for its disturbing and violent nature. Etymology The English word ' ...

in 1997.{{Cite web, last=Rolf, first=Gössner, title=DER KRONZEUGE - Die Ware Verrat, url=https://www.freitag.de/autoren/der-freitag/die-ware-verrat, access-date=2020-11-01, website=www.freitag.de, language=de

References