Sebastian Edathy
Sebastian Edathy born September 5, 1969 (as Sebastian Edathiparambil) is a German politician. He was a prominent member of the Social Democratic Party and became the chairman of a key committee in January 2012 at the Parliament, which was investigating failures of police and intelligence units in the serial murders of nine immigrants by the far-right German terrorist group ″National Socialist Underground″ (NSU) from 2000-2007. The NSU-committee was led by Edathy and questioned various officials from Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office during years 2012-2013.
Edathy and Azov Films
The case started in 2011 when Canadian police raided the company know as Azov Films seizing their costumer list. The Canadian government subsequently turned over a list of some 800 Germans who are believed to be Azov customers to the German Federal Criminal Police Agency (BKA), among them was the 42-year-old Social Democrat member of the Bundestag, Sebastian Edathy. [1] In February 2014, Edathy admitted to having purchased some material from a Canadian firm, but he denied the allegations of possessing child pornographic content, he insisted the material he purchased was "unambiguously legal" [2] which under German law is true. [3] The companies website (Azovfilms.com) marketed films from around the world including many award winning "foreign films" and it has not been made public which films Edathy may have purchased. On his Facebook page, Edathy rejected the accusation that he possessed child pornography: "The public claim that I possess child pornographic texts or that I had obtained them is untrue." [1]
Edathy announced his resignation from parliament "for health reasons" on February 7, 2014. Just two days after his resignation went public, his home and offices were searched by authorities; media outlets asserted that the searches were made on allegations of possession of child pornography. [2] So far, no charges have been filed. February 14, 2014, Hans-Peter Friedrich, resigned from the ruling CDU–SPD grand coalition government reacting to imminent legal investigations into incidents during his tenure as Federal Ministry of the Interior (Germany)Federal Minister of the Interior. Friedrich was accused of betraying state secrets about legal investigations to SPD party heads during the coalition negotiations after the federal elections in 2013 about information showing Edathy's link to Azov Films and plans to take up an investigation against Edathy on suspicion of possessing such material. "The SPD's top leaders, who received the intelligence information from Friedrich, said they have not given any tip-off to Edathy and they kept the information secret."[4] [5]
In the wake of the media frenzy, Germany's militant Child Protection Agency and other groups have called for tougher laws that would outlaw the sale of all naturist or nude depictions of children. [6]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Edathy pornography affair: The story so far. Deutsche Welle. Retrieved on 4 March 2014.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "German politician Edathy rejects child porn allegation," Deutsche Welle (11-02-2014). Retrieved on 14 February 2014.
- ↑ Child pornography's legal grey zone. Deutsche Welle. Retrieved on 4 March 2014.
- ↑ German Hans-Peter Friedrich minister resigns over child pornography 'probe leak'. Daily News and Analysis. Retrieved on 15 February 2014.
- ↑ Sebastian Edathy (Wikipedia)
- ↑ Germany slow to enact EU rule outlawing child porn. Deutsche Welle. Retrieved on 4 March 2014.
See Also
- Azov Films Prosecutions
- Azov Films Prosecutions - Canada
- Azov Films Prosecutions - United Kingdom
- Spading Up Hate: Joanna Beaven-Desjardins’ Big Lie
- Pedophobe of the Year:Paul Krawczyk,Toronto Police
- Mark Schieldrop: press hostility to Azov accuracy
- Mick Moran of Interpol and Pro-active Pedophile Policing
