Leo Bermel

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Leo Bermel (born August 10, 1932 in Velbert , † May 3, 1986 in Gusborn ) was a German journalist .

Leo Bermel learned his journalistic craft at the Velberter Zeitung ; afterwards he worked for the Allgemeine Zeitung in Mainz . In 1961 he switched to the Solinger Tageblatt and headed the economic department there. In 1975 he went to Gusborn, where he started his own business as a businessman and freelance journalist. Ten years later he returned to the Solinger Tageblatt to become head of the local editorial team . In 1986 Bermel had a fatal accident while on vacation while practicing his hobby, riding a horse . In his obituary, the Tageblatt wrote : "Comments marked by keen intellect and meticulous research marked the way this distinguished journalist worked."

Leo Bermel became known nationwide through criminal proceedings brought against him by the then City Director of Solingen , Gerhard Berting . On September 4 and 5, 1962, critical articles by Bermel appeared in the Solinger Tageblatt , in which details of a planned relocation of drop forges from residential areas to the outskirts were reported. Berting had communicated these details in a confidential meeting with representatives of the Düsseldorf district government , the city council, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the industrial associations. Although the city director confirmed that Bermel's articles were factually correct, he wanted to find out from the journalist who his informant was. He initiated a "disciplinary preliminary investigation against unknown persons", invited Bermel to his office as a witness and informed him at the same time that he was not entitled to refuse to give evidence . He relied on the provision that journalists only “about the person of the [...] person responsible for a publication of criminal content (entitled to refuse to testify) [...] if an editor of the publication is punished for this publication or his No obstacles stand in the way of punishment ”.

Bermel declined this subpoena. In the course of legal assistance, he was summoned to the district court that sentenced him to a fine of 200 marks for unjustified refusal to testify. In addition, the magistrate ordered compulsory detention , the maximum length of which could have been six months, “to enforce the testimony” . The judgment was later overturned by the Wuppertal Regional Court because Berting's request for assistance was inadmissible.

This incident involving Leo Bermel caused a nationwide discussion, as journalists did not have a general right to refuse to testify in all federal states at the time. The right of journalists not to have to reveal informants in general was only regulated by law nationwide in 1975.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Solinger Tageblatt , May 6, 1986
  2. ↑ Wolfgang J. Koschnick: Media and Journalist Handbook . 1996, p. 137

literature

personal data
SURNAME Bermel, Leo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German journalist
DATE OF BIRTH August 10, 1932
PLACE OF BIRTH Velbert
DATE OF DEATH May 3, 1986
Place of death Gusborn