Wednesday March 31, 2021
Amnesty for stolen ammunition
KSK commander is said to have acted illegally
The KSK commander Kreitmayr allows his troops to return unlawfully hoarded ammunition with impunity. Several thousand rounds and probably hand grenades appear. But Kreitmayr could have made himself a criminal offense – because he protected the KSK members from appropriate punishment.
In connection with the ammunition affair with the Bundeswehr elite force KSK, the public prosecutor in Tübingen is now investigating commander Markus Kreitmayr. It is about a possible failure to participate in criminal proceedings according to Section 40 of the Military Penal Code, said the leading Tübingen senior public prosecutor Matthias Grundke in the city of Baden-Württemberg. It is about an initial suspicion, the investigation into the case would likely take months.
Section 40 of the Military Penal Code makes obstruction of punishment by superiors within the Bundeswehr a punishable offense. Accordingly, they make themselves liable to prosecution if they do not investigate possible crimes by subordinates or report them to the civil law enforcement authorities in order to protect them from investigation. The Bundeswehr itself has already initiated internal proceedings against Kreitmayr.
The affair is about a so-called ammunition amnesty for soldiers, which the brigadier general ordered last year. KSK members were given the opportunity to return unauthorized ammunition from army stocks without further penalties. According to reports, thousands of rounds of ammunition and probably hand grenades appeared from the end of March to the end of April 2020.
The KSK stationed in Calw, Baden-Württemberg, had already hit the headlines due to right-wing extremist incidents. Federal Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer therefore disbanded a company of the unit last year. In the summer, the CDU politician wants to make a fundamental decision about the future of the elite troops. During the ongoing investigation into the ammunition affair, Kreitmayr remains in office.
“We are only at the beginning,” said Grundke, head of the authorities. In further investigations it must now be checked whether the initial suspicion is confirmed. In particular, what Kreitmayr had subjectively aimed at with his measure also played a role.
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