The mayor of the small town of Bad Lobenstein in Thuringia, Thomas Weigelt, is temporarily relieved of his duties. This was announced by the district office of the Saale-Orla district on Wednesday. The independent local politician is said to have attacked a newspaper reporter in mid-August. The reporter fell and injured his elbow, according to the “Ostthüringer Zeitung”. According to the mayor, he felt provoked by the journalist, but denied an attack.
The district office lists six significant breaches of duty. Among other things, it is about defamation of constitutional bodies, financial damage to the city of Bad Lobenstein and physical attack. Since Weigelt is expected to be removed from the civil service due to the nature, amount and severity of the allegations, he could be removed from the service by the legal supervisory authority before the end of the procedure, it said.
According to the “Ostthüringer Zeitung”, the argument at the market festival in the small spa town in the Thuringian Slate Mountains was preceded by the reporter’s research on a reception by the mayor on the same day. A man belonging to the so-called Reich Citizens’ Scene is said to have been invited. The incident caused a nationwide sensation and was rated by media associations as an attack on press freedom.
The mayor has so far rejected calls for his resignation. Weigelt had survived an application to be voted out in July.
