Schönbohm case: Review of ZDF reporting begins

The proceedings before the Press Chamber of the Munich Higher Regional Court are bringing the case of former BSI president Schönbohm back into the spotlight. On the one hand, it is about the question of whether ZDF and Jan Böhmermann have acted properly. But politically, the second trial is much more delicate.

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Two questions have been at the center for two years: Did Jan Böhmermann wrongly accuse the then BSI president of being too close to Russian actors and calling him a security risk? And: Did Federal Interior Minister Nancy Fesser (SPD) first ban him from conducting official business because of this satirical broadcast and then transfer him to the Federal Academy of Public Administration? Both questions will be resolved in court.

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The appointment of the former BSI boss was already a political issue

The appointment of Arne Schönbohm under then-Federal Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere was a political issue. The then head of the Cyber ​​Security Council Germany (CSRD), a lobby association, was considered by some experts to be the wrong choice. Then-CCC spokeswoman Constanze Kurz called him a “cyber joker”. A term that was taken up by Jan Böhmermann in the ZDF magazine Royal on October 7, 2022. in its broadcast It was about the CSRD, its current chairman, a Russian member company, and the Federal Office for Information Security.

One of the scandals was that Schönbohm went to the CSRD’s anniversary celebration and gave a welcoming speech – even though according to a service directive, the club had actually been avoided for years. Schönbohm applied for an exemption from State Secretary Markus Richter, but the audience heard nothing about it. Based on reports compiled by third parties covering almost Schönbohm’s entire tenure, Böhmermann came to the conclusion that he was a “threat to Germany’s cybersecurity”.

Schönbohm had the highest NATO security clearance

So far, so unsurprising, many experts thought at the time. The fact that Schönbohm came from the CSRD and a management consultancy and that his qualifications were initially questioned also due to his proximity to the CDU and his status as the son of the famous former Brandenburg interior minister Jörg Schönbohm: everything has long been known and documented. Needless to say, the BSI chief also meets suspicious employees of foreign intelligence services at events. And no hindrance to the highest security clearance available in NATO: COSMIC – which Schönbohm received during his tenure at the BSI.

The fact that there may also be better BSI chairmen in terms of their expertise: possibly true, but this is a matter for the responsible federal ministers. The head of an authority does not have to be an experienced quantum cryptologist, just as ministers do not need any special qualifications.

Some details were lost on the ZDF broadcast

In the relevant issue of “ZDF Magazin Royal” some information was lost about the German subsidiary of the Russian company Infotex. Named Protelian, whose German office in Berlin was located a block away from the Foreign Office, it had applied for certification for VPN products from BSI – but never received it. But the audience did not know.

Such details played no role in the public debate. In the following days, Federal Interior Minister Nancy Fesser (SPD) discussed an investigation into the allegations made by Böhmermann. The BSI was silenced and its vice-president Gerhard Schäuser formally protested in a letter. The BSI and Schönböhm were not allowed to publicly defend themselves against the allegations – the responsibility now rested entirely with the Interior Ministry.

On October 18, 2022, a week and a half after the broadcast, Arne Schönbohm was banned from conducting official business. A key part of the justification given by the head of the Central Services Department at the time was that the Böhmermann reporting and subsequent reporting would “permanently damage public confidence in the administration.” In addition, “a large number of incidents occurred regarding the technical and personnel management of the office, which also irreparably damaged the minister’s confidence in his administration.”

Schönbohm took legal action against this ban. But by transferring the civil servant to another position, for which the Bundestag had to adjust the salary, the BMI was able to avoid the court’s decision for a while. He was allowed to perform official functions again – just somewhere else. Schönbohm requested disciplinary proceedings against him be dropped so that he could be cleared of all charges. This never happened – although the ministry spent almost half a year investigating whether Schönbohm had done anything for which he could be charged. This included asking the Constitution Protection Office if there was anything there against him.

Lawsuit against ZDF

The former BSI president sued ZDF because, in his opinion, Böhmermann’s broadcast breached the editorial duty of care and unfairly insulted Schönbohm. After yesterday’s hearing, the Press Chamber of the Munich Regional Court is expected to decide at the end of November whether ZDF has actually breached its duty of care in the case of the “Cyberclown” programme.

According to reports from the hearing, the presiding judge of the press chamber at the Munich Regional Court expressed clear doubts about the care of the editorial work: In all five points in which Schönbohm is demanding damages of 100,000 euros from ZDF, it seems to him that the plaintiff’s arguments exceed the statements made by the legal representation of the Mainz broadcaster. Among other things, the question was whether the illustrations in the program were based on reliable sources. In other words: whether editorial care was ensured by ZDF.

(No)