VW diesel trial continues after another forced break

BRAUNSCHWEIG (dpa-AFX) – After a lengthy break, the diesel criminal trial against four Volkswagen executives, some of them former, is to resume on Tuesday (9:30 a.m.). The parental leave of a member of the court had made the break in the proceedings necessary. In the elaborate proceedings, which began back in September 2021, more witnesses are now to be heard.

Even before that, the fraud proceedings, which in the best case scenario are intended to shed light on “Dieselgate” at VW, had repeatedly stalled. Either appointments were cancelled due to Corona infections or scheduled witnesses invoked their right to refuse to testify because they themselves are accused in downstream diesel trials. The four defendants are accused, among other things, of commercial and gang fraud with deception programs in the exhaust gas control of millions of diesel cars.

The great interest with many observers at the start had quickly waned. This was probably mainly due to the absence of what many observers saw as the central protagonist, Martin Winterkorn. The court had decided not to include the ex-CEO in the first complex of hearings due to a medical report and to separate the trial part. It remains unclear whether Winterkorn, who resigned over the scandal, will have to appear in the courtroom at any point.

Since the first weeks, the proceedings have been characterized by mutual recriminations, memory gaps and sometimes heated exchanges. Even more than 60 days of hearings have not brought a breakthrough in terms of content. According to a report in the Braunschweiger Zeitung, the defense of one of the defendants has filed a motion to dismiss the case against his client. Accordingly, there could be movement at least in the foreseeable future as far as the number of participants in the trial is concerned./bch/DP/zb