A well known critic of GM in Germany and a whistleblower on the corruption and sleaze surrounding its introduction there is facing two major court cases and a possible prison sentence.
The first case involves a court appearance at Giessen on September 30th as a result of the decontamination of some GM barley in Giessen in 2007 - a field trial of the University there. This could lead to a lengthy prison sentence, as two of the 'field liberators' were previously sentenced to 6 months in prison and the prosecutor appealed against this sentence on the grounds that it was too lenient!
Jorg Bergstedt will then be in court again on October 12th in Saarbrucken, because of his whistleblowing on "insider relationships" and networks in the area of genetic engineering. Bergstedt is author of the pamphlet Organisierte Unverantwortlichkeit (Organised Irresponsibility), in which he shows, with many supporting references, the close links that exist among pro-GM politicians, regulatory authorities, companies, lobbyists and research institutes in Germany.
An injunction by the district court in Saarbrucken has ordered him (and only him!) as of August 20th to stop disseminating the pamphlet and its content. The case against Jorg Bergstedt was brought by Prof. Uwe Schrader, head of the pro-GM lobby group InnoPlanta, and Kerstin Schmidt, CEO at AgroBioTechnikum and BioTechFarm. Interestingly, in terms of the incestuous world that Bergstedt exposes, their lawyer is Horst Rehberger, who is also the lawyer who represents the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK)* in Gatersleben in the case of the decontamination of a GM field trial by 6 activists.
Jorg Bergstedt is determined not to let anybody stop him from telling the truth and has appealed the decision. His supporters are hoping people will be able to be present in Saarbrucken to express their support for Jorg Bergstedt on the day of the hearing. The case is scheduled for 1pm on October 12th.
Sources / Further reading (in German)
http://www.gendreck-weg.de
http://de.indymedia.org/2009/09/261082.shtml
http://www.projektwerkstatt.de/gen/filz.htm
http://www.projektwerkstatt.de/gen/filz/brosch.pdf
http://www.projektwerkstatt.de/gen/filz/tabelle.pdf
http://www.projektwerkstatt.de/gen/2009/aktionstage/flyer_boerde.pdf
http://www.nadeshda.org/foren/cl.medien.raberalf/p217s223a20.html
*The Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK) in Gatersleben is a large plant research centre. With the central ex situ gene bank, IPK possesses a unique collection of plant genetic resources from more than 3,000 botanic species of about 800 different genera, the stock currently totals approximately 148,000 specimens.