Allegations of sexual misconduct against German Greens MP Stefan Gelbhaar have been retracted after a news outlet that published them admitted they were probably fabricated.
In December last year, Gelbhaar was forced to withdraw his candidacy for the Greens in the Berlin State elections – despite having all but secured sufficient votes – amid reports of alleged sexual harassment.
Yet, on January 16, news outlet Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB), which had published the accusations against Gelbhaar, retracted its reporting after admitting a key piece of evidence, a supposed affidavit from a relevant person, was likely fabricated.
On January 18, RBB‘s chief editor David Biesinger officially acknowledged what he termed the broadcaster’s mistakes.
Gelbhaar has made a criminal complaint against unknown persons for alleged defamation.
Also on January 18, Shirin Kreße, Berlin district parliamentary group leader of the Greens and part of its progressive wing, announced her resignation from the party, reportedly over the suspected fake allegations against Gelbhaar.
Initially, at the end of last year, several women had told RRB, some anonymously and some speaking under oath, that they had been harassed by Gelbhaar, who has always denied all accusations.
One allegation was that he undressed a woman in her apartment in late November 2023 after accompanying her home from a party event. The woman suspected her drink had been tampered with.
Another woman reported that Gelbhaar had allegedly touched her inappropriately on her way home from an event.
On January 17, RBB retracted its reporting of the events.
“An informant apparently pretended to be a person who does not exist,” it said.
“Doubts arose about the affidavit of the informant ‘Anne K’ when she could no longer be reached by RBB a few days ago,” the news portal stated.
“After further research, there is now a suspicion that a Greens district politician had pretended to be Anne K. She denies all allegations. The RBB has filed a criminal complaint against the district politician.”
According to the newspaper Tagesspiegel, a certain “Anne K” had submitted an affidavit to RBB but claimed the broadcaster had not checked it sufficiently. RBB‘s legal department had, though, reportedly approved all reports on the allegations.
Tagesspiegel said it had been pressing the matter since January 17 but RBB had refused to give answers.
According to the newspaper, the anonymous accusations were allegedly spread by Kreße, including those by the “person” known as Anne K.
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In a response to the Tagesspiegel reports, RBB editor-in-chief David Biesinger said: “We as RBB made a mistake in the research. Journalistic standards have not been fully complied with. The identity behind the affidavit has not been sufficiently verified by the editors.”
The Greens leadership addressed the issue on January 20. Party leaders Franziska Brantner and Felix Banaszak faced the press after delaying the conference by an hour, citing extended board discussions.
Banaszak said he was “personally affected and shocked”, condemning what he said was behaviour “marked by criminal energy and infamy” as unacceptable in the party.
Brantner said the Greens’ federal executive committee now wanted to press criminal charges – against Kreße and other unnamed persons.
The pair announced that the party’s ombudsman’s office would look into further statements made by seven unnamed individuals.
Later on January 20, Habeck described the whole affair as “serious and shocking”.
“It is imperative that what actually happened is clarified quickly and ruthlessly and that the consequences are drawn,” he said.
“This is exactly what the federal association has set itself as a high priority,” he stated, adding that the party executive was “completely on it”.
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