Harald Friedrich (biochemist)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Harald Friedrich (* 1952 ) is a German biochemist , waste and water expert and former department head of the NRW Ministry of the Environment . During the term of office of Minister Eckhard Uhlenberg , he was dismissed from office with serious, but largely insubstantial accusations, after he had had contaminations of the drinking water in the Ruhr area with dangerous substances from the drains of the Ruhrverband's sewage treatment plants and called for nanofiltration due to the poor results . In 2009, the events led to the establishment of a parliamentary committee of inquiry in the North Rhine-Westphalian state parliament .

Career

Friedrich completed a degree in biology and biochemistry and received a doctorate in molecular engineering. In 1989 he started working in technical environmental protection. In 1996 he became head of the department for waste, water management and soil protection in the Ministry for the Environment and Nature Conservation, Agriculture and Consumer Protection of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. After working in the private sector, he was brought back to the ministry by Minister Bärbel Höhn ( The Greens ) in 2003, where he resumed his work as a department head.

Friedrich was also head of department for waste management, soil protection and water management under Höhn's successor Eckhard Uhlenberg ( CDU ) until 2006 . In the scandal about the pollution of Möhne and Ruhr with the chemical PFT , he was considered a critic of Uhlenberg, because he called for a technical retrofitting of the waterworks on the Ruhr . On June 18, 2006, Friedrich was given notice without notice. On July 9, 2006, the first press reports were published about the connection between the termination and the discussion about the PFT contamination of the Ruhr.

Preliminary investigation

Friedrich, who is a member of the Greens and was brought to the ministry by the former Environment Minister Bärbel Höhn, was subsequently investigated for corruption , fraud and infidelity : He was supposed to have embezzled state funds and in return a laptop and a stay in France and received weeks of use of a small car. In a major raid against him and others involved, 275 police officers searched 45 apartments in North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse and Baden-Württemberg at the end of May 2008; Friedrich was held in custody for three weeks. More than 1000 telephone calls made by Harald Friedrich were tapped, the logs of which were hastily destroyed. The investigations were initiated by the North Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of the Environment under State Secretary Alexander Schink when the latter informed the State Criminal Police Office of rumors that Friedrich could have committed a criminal offense in connection with earlier contracts, particularly to RWTH Aachen University . On July 22, 2008, the daily newspaper came to the conclusion that the allegations were baseless. Allegedly during the proceedings, the investigating public prosecutor's office in Wuppertal passed on confidential investigation documents to the ministry.

On November 11, 2008, the public prosecutor's office under Chief Public Prosecutor Ralf Meyer overturned the arrest warrant against Harald Friedrich. The suspicion of gang and commercial fraud against him and 13 other accused could "not be substantiated". In February 2011 it was announced that the investigations against Friedrich had been stopped against payment of 700 euros because of some work lunches that had not been properly billed.

Reactions

The former minister Bärbel Höhn suspects political influence; After the summer break of 2009, a parliamentary committee of inquiry of the state parliament clarified the incidents. In the meantime, the investigative committee found that the corruption allegations against Friedrich had no basis.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Wz, Westdeutsche Zeitung , investigations against Höhn employees stopped
  2. ↑ Aachener Nachrichten , February 4, 2011: Investigations against Höhn employees stopped ( Memento from July 17, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
  3. ↑ a b Documentation Center AnsTagelicht.de: Harald FRIEDRICH and the (bad) drinking water from the Ruhr: Detailed chronology of all important events ( Memento of the original from April 16, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , downloaded December 8, 2013 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.anstageslicht.de
  4. ↑ Wächterpreis: Harald Friedrich ( Memento from July 17, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
  5. ↑ Waz.de , August 16, 2008, Jürgen Polzin: Public prosecutor investigates Ex-Minister Höhn defends water experts
  6. ↑ a b David Schraven : The Friedrich case: Ministry receives insight into investigation files
  7. ↑ a b Frontal 21 from November 25, 2008 (ZDF)
  8. ↑ Waz.de , Jan Jessen, June 5, 2009: affair Friedrich. An expensive judicial farce in the Uhlenberg house
  9. ↑ a b WAZ.de , Christoph Meinerz, Theo Schumacher, June 23, 2009: Committee of Inquiry. The Friedrich case has consequences
  10. ^ Mud battle in the Ministry of the Environment , taz July 22, 2008
  11. ^ A b Westdeutsche Zeitung, February 4, 2011: Investigations against Höhn employees stopped
personal data
SURNAME Friedrich, Harald
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German biochemist, water and waste expert; Head of Department at the Ministry of the Environment in North Rhine-Westphalia
DATE OF BIRTH 1952