Laurence Dollimore
CHRISTIAN Brueckner has been cleared of all charges at his multiple sex crimes trial in Germany.
The German paedophile, 47, had been accused of three rapes and two cases of child sexual abuse in Portugal, dating between 2000 and 2017.
After more than 30 days of hearings, the judges delivered their verdict at Brauschweig court on Tuesday morning.
Brueckner’s defence attorney Friedrich Fulscher had demanded an acquittal on all charges, claiming ‘there was never sufficient suspicion of a crime.’
He argued that there was a lack of evidence and ‘non-credible witnesses’ in the prosecutors’ case.
Fulscher also claimed the trial was influenced by the fact that Brueckner is the main suspect in the Madeleine McCann case.
He also portrayed key state witnesses Helge Busching and Manfred Seyferth – both former friends – as ‘unbelievable’ and said their sole aim was to put ‘Bruckner in prison’, describing their evidence as ‘lies’.
Fulscher said their testimony was ‘now full of contradictions’.
He pointed out how other witnesses who they claimed had also seen ‘the rape videos’ denied having ever set eyes on them.
Fulscher added Busching’s aim was ‘solely to profit from the multi-million reward’ in the Madeleine case.
Today, Busching, who now lives in Italy, laughed it off, telling the Olive Press he was ‘angry’ at the lawyer’s claims.
Prosecutor’s had been demanding a 15-year prison sentence for Brueckner, who is currently serving a seven-year sentence for the rape of a 72-year-old American woman.
But Fulscher is now applying for a retrial of that case at the Gottingen Regional Court.
As it stands, Brueckner’s sentence will be served on September 17, 2025, factoring in time served before his previous trial.
Prosecutors are still expected to launch a court case against him over the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in 2007 next year.
He has been made an official suspect (‘arguido’) in Portugal, and the leading prosecutor in Germany, Hans christian Wolters, told the Olive Press last year he is ‘certain’ Brueckner is the culprit.
The prosecutors are expected to launch an appeal later this week against today’s decision.
But a senior legal source working on the case said it was ‘extremely unlikely’ that this would be granted.
Brueckner’s lawyers were also critical of the German cops, saying their investigation was ‘one-sided’ and biased.
“We have heard BKA officers admit they did not question witnesses critically so that no contradictions would arise,” said Fulscher.
“This is scandalous and casts a very bad light on the federal authorities, especially as the BKA is highly trusted in terms of competence by the judiciary and general public.”
The acquittal comes despite a leading forensic psychologist who studied Brueckner describing his as being in the ‘top division’ of dangerous sex offenders.
Christian Riedemann, who was in court throughout the trial, said he was in the ‘top 1%’ of dangerous people and there was a 30-50% chance he would be caught reoffending again within two years.
Last week, Brueckner’s former cellmate Laurentiu Codin told the court that he had even ‘confessed’ to him that he had once abducted a child in Portugal.
Codin told the court under oath: “He was looking for money. He said he didn’t find any money but found a kid and took the child.
“He said that two hours later, there were police and dogs all over the place, so he then went away, out of the area.
“He said that he took the child in his car, and in the time when the police and dogs were at the house, he drove away and he was gone.”
He continued: “He asked me if the DNA from a child can be taken from bones under the ground.”
