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The man, 86, has been acquitted. His wife, 87, with dementia, not yet. The procedure, a court spokesman weighs down, should probably be discontinued. What is that? Stubborn, curmudgeonly, bureaucratic, overzealous or just plain German?
From Spain one hears of similar occurrences. But followed by belated insight, regret, redemption, and the humility that comes before learning. In Spain, too, the authorities cracked down, there were arrests and hefty fines. But after that, the state promised its citizens to refund all corona fines. The constitutional court helped out by declaring curfews or contact restrictions in July to be unconstitutional in some cases.
A government shows itself capable of correction, out of insight, despite all the political disgrace. Indeed, that is conceivable and possible. But not in Germany. After the Bavarian administrative court had declared the country’s curfew ineffective, the Ministry of Health there said: The restrictions were “completely correct”.