Sachsensumpf (German: [ˈzaksn̩ˌzʊmpf]; "Saxony swamp") is the name given by journalists to a political, judicial and intelligence scandal in the German state of Saxony climaxing in 2007 when domestic intelligence dossiers about the purported implication of judicial and business figures in cases of child prostitution and illegal property deals during the early 1990s became public, raising the suspicion of parts of the state's government and judiciary being corrupted by criminal networks.
They assert that the (now disbanded) organized crime office at the state's domestic intelligence service and its main source, a Leipzig police detective, had overstated the suspected cases in an unprofessional way, and some journalists had further exaggerated the facts.
Former victims of child prostitution as well as journalists reporting on the case have been charged with libel but were eventually acquitted, raising warnings by press freedom advocates.
[2] The Landgericht (district court) of Leipzig convicted Kugler of human trafficking, in coincidence with pimping, promotion of prostitution and sexual abuse of children and sentenced him to four years and two months in prison.
They claim that the former vice president of the Leipzig's Country Court (Landgericht), who was their judge in the trial of 1994, Jürgen Niemeyer, was one of the visitors of the brothel.
[4] In 2003 a department for organized crime (OK) was established in the Saxony State Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Landesamt für Verfassungsschutz Sachsen - LfV).
[5] The jurisdiction of a domestic intelligence agency investigating organized crime was controversial from the start as in Germany this is normally part of specialized police units.
It assessed the situation and concluded that 'the aspect of a danger for the constitution and the free, basic democratic order in Germany [...] in all case complexes was given'.
On the basis of this report the former Minister of the Interior, Thomas de Maizière, decided that the observation of organized crime, including the case of complex 'offside' by the domestic intelligence agency, will continue.
The report from August indicates, that the Saxony State Office for the Protection of the Constitution (LfV) knew of alleged sexual abuse of children at the hands of known prosecutors and judges by the second quarter of 2005.
[9] The General Attorney's Office of Germany (Bundesanwaltschaft) was informed and looked into the issue, but in June 2007 declared that there was no reasonable suspicion for the existence of a criminal organization or network.
Intelligence service regulations had been violated to a significant extent, the supervision of the department had been neglected by both the board of directors as well as the Ministry of the Interior (Innenministerium).
[18] A connection with the inconsistencies on the so-called 'ownerless properties', which were sold in Leipzig in the hundreds in the previous few years, has not been demonstrated, but is examined by a group of parliamentarians of the Saxony parliament.
[20] Simone Skroch (formerly Henneck), former Head of the department organized crime at the LfV, confirmed as a key witness in the investigation committee of the 'Landtag' (legislative assembly in Germany) beginning in March 2013, that the "existence of continuously acting structures of the former Ministry of State Security (Ministerium für Staatssicherheit - MfS / DDR) in complex connection with organized crime" is given.
[21] In the summer of 2007, Jürgen Roth reported on the 'Saxony morass' affair (suspicion of involvement in mafia-like structures from high politicians, lawyers, policemen and journalists).
[22] For his covering Roth was severely criticised by journalist Reiner Burger in a series of articles in the FAZ (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung).
[26] The presiding judge Martin Schultze-Griebler took the view, that under established practice of the higher law, media utterances are to be seen in context of the situation.
[30] Martin Klockzin started a lawsuit against a report in the online edition of the 'Stern' magazine on 22 June 2007 which was released under the title 'The Saxony corruption scandal: A thriller from Leipzig's morass'.
It is remarkable how hard the Saxony's judicial authorities pushed against those - especially journalists - who doubted the official explanation and still believed in the existence of criminal structures.