(LifeSiteNews) — A German judge who ruled against mask mandates, distance rules, and mandatory Covid testing in schools has been suspended and forbidden to work as a judge.
The Thuringia Judicial Service Court decided to suspend judge Christian Dettmar, as media reports confirmed on Wednesday. An investigation into the judge by German authorities was started in 2021 after Dettmer had ruled that children in two schools in Weimar must not be forced to wear masks, keep their distance from other people, and take COVID tests.
In the decision, Dettmar argued that the school mandates are a “danger to the mental, physical or psychological well-being” of children. He provided evidence and arguments for his decision, which was over 100 pages long.
After his decision made national and international headlines in April 2021, a state prosecutor started an investigation into Dettmar and issued a search warrant for the judge and multiple witnesses. The homes, offices, and cars of the people involved in the case were searched, and cell phones, laptops, and other personal belongings were seized.
The aim was to confiscate communications between the defendant and the witnesses that could incriminate the judge.
The Prosecutor’s Office claimed that there were “indications that the defendant arbitrarily assumed jurisdiction, even though the matter was one of administrative law, for which only administrative remedies are available.”
Thus, there was an initial suspicion that he had been guilty of breaking the law in making this decision “by deliberately and seriously departing from the law, i.e. his decision was no longer supported by the legal provisions so that it appeared arbitrary.”
Dettmar was a family court judge and ruled on the case that was brought forward by parents because he thought the well-being of the children was in danger.
German journalist Boris Reitschuster commented on the case, saying that the prosecution of the judge was meant to send a message to anyone that goes against the mainstream narrative on COVID.
“Anyone who makes the wrong decision runs the risk of being rid of their office or area of responsibility,” Reitschuster wrote. “The mechanisms behind such decisions are reminiscent of (post-)socialist states.”
“The suspicion is obvious that once again the judiciary is being instrumentalized to intimidate and criminalize government critics,” Reitschuster opined.