Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann has criticized the behavior of the Berlin Attorney General’s Office in the case of the examination of a real estate loan from FDP leader Christian Lindner in an unusually harsh manner. Lindner had previously rejected allegations in connection with a loan for his private home purchase.

“If you wanted to find something scandalous about this whole issue, and I say that as a member of parliament and not in my official capacity, then it is the approach of the public prosecutor general in Berlin,” said the FDP politician to the “Augsburger Allgemeine” (Saturday edition).

Buschmann sharply criticized the statements made by the Berlin public prosecutor’s office to the media: “It only publicly announces that it may one day want to apply for the immunity to be lifted,” he said. At the same time, the public prosecutor’s office conceded that the threshold for initial suspicion had not been crossed. “As a lawyer, I think that’s inadmissible,” emphasized Buschmann. “If there is a scandal here, then it is this violation of the personal rights of those affected,” criticized the FDP politician. Lindner had previously rejected allegations in connection with a loan for his private home purchase after he was criticized as finance minister for a video greeting for the financial institution.