Municipalities – Frankfurt am Main – Awo affair topic in the city parliament: accused mayor expected – politics
Frankfurt/Main (dpa/lhe) – Frankfurt’s mayor, Peter Feldmann, who has been accused of possibly accepting an advantage, is expected at the city council this Thursday. The meeting also deals with the allegations against the SPD politician: The item on the agenda “Mayor Feldmann’s involvement in the AWO scandal” is expected to be dealt with in the early evening. It was initially unclear whether Feldmann, who is scheduled to return from his almost one-week business trip to Singapore on Thursday, will then comment himself.
As was announced last week, the Frankfurt public prosecutor’s office has filed charges against Feldmann on the basis of substantial suspicion of accepting an advantage. Feldmann’s wife, as the head of an Awo-Kita, received a salary that exceeded the collective agreement “without any objective reason”. According to the public prosecutor’s office, Awo also supported Feldmann in the 2018 election campaign by raising donations. In return, he wanted to “benevolently consider” the interests of Awo Frankfurt.
Feldmann has rejected the allegations against him as “unfounded and excessive”. He trusts in the independence of the courts and is firmly convinced “that my innocence will be proven,” he said in a written statement. He also announced that he would be making fewer public appointments: “I will not hide – and at the same time I will exercise a sense of proportion in public appearances and at events.”
He explained: “Now, if I do not go into details, it does not mean that I have something to hide. I do so out of respect for the process.” He was simply forbidden to quote from the files available to him.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:220330-99-734343/2