Frankfurt prison imam acquitted | Frankfurt
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Frankfurt – The Prison Imam of Preungesheim, Mustafa C. (49), has now been acquitted by the Frankfurt District Court. The correctional facility I (JVA) had reported him for infidelity because he is said to have billed incorrectly while working as a freelance imam in the Preungesheim prison. The minister’s activity ended in 2018 after six years. Before that, he was the first and for a long time the only prison imam in Germany and was also an advertising medium for the state of Hesse.
In a settlement, the country and the 49-year-old agreed in 2019: he leaves prison, receives his money and, in turn, the allegations that he was “bogus self-employed”, that is, the country has an obligation to him. For C. the bad surprise came in 2020 when the prison reported him despite a settlement – who excluded other claims – on suspicion of fraud. Accordingly, the public prosecutor’s office, he had billed hours that he did not spend in prison, but outside of the prison. Only the time the man actually died behind the prison doors can be remunerated.
The imam admitted dies. It was therefore the practice that, in consultation with the then head of JVA I, he also accounted for activities that were performed outside of the prison for the purpose of prison chaplaincy in the narrower and broader sense. The now retired then head of the prison, who was questioned as a witness, confirmed the death. He also stated that he had developed a project together with the imam, which, however, had not been fully completed when he retired. It is an attempt to found an association of prison imams, which enters into a contractual relationship with the country as a body similar to the churches. Church prison chaplains are paid by the churches, not the land, and the land increases the cost to the churches. Thus there is no employment relationship between the country and the pastors. The Imam as a Muslim pastor, on the other hand, was directly employed as a freelancer at JVA I.
With the retirement of the head of JVA I and the assumption of office of the new head, this abruptly ended the practice from 2013 to 2018. Instead, the prison imam was dismissed and finally, through the settlement concluded in 2019, at least die until the dismissed services were rewarded. The criminal complaint was nevertheless – and was unsuccessful. The Frankfurt District Court (Schöffengericht) has acquitted the Imam of all allegations. With his lawyer Dr. Dr. Seyed Sharam Iranbomy received the written justification a few days ago. According to this, the imam “undeniably stated that he had absolutely had costs and that he understood his work as an imam comprehensively in terms of pastoral care”. He did not deliberately cheat and had no intention of enriching himself. “He was therefore acquitted on factual grounds,” the court said in the grounds of the judgment. tjs