- Joined
- Oct 29, 2002
- Messages
- 36,442
- Location
- East of Suez
Just heard about this case on bbc news 24. Its interesting to note that scants hour earlier the German parliament had removed his imunity from prosecution and his house was being searched in the very moments that he jumped. Could this be a 'staged' death?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2965952.stm
German politician in death plunge
Juergen Moellemann had a passion for parachute jumps
A controversial former German minister has died in a parachute jump, shortly after parliament voted to lift his immunity over sleaze allegations.
Police said Juergen Moellemann, an experienced skydiver, died at an airfield near the town of Marl in his home state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Eyewitnesses are quoted as saying that his parachute opened normally, but that he took it off.
A state prosecutor would only say that Mr Moellemann became separated from the parachute in mid-air.
Like all the others, he had activated all the parachute's safety systems, in line with the instructions
Mr Moellemann, 57, had jumped with nine friends from a small plane, police said. The others landed safely.
Witnesses quoted in the German media said they believed the politician had committed suicide.
Shortly before, investigators began searching Mr Moellemann's home in Muenster and more than 20 other addresses in Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Spain.
Mr Moellemann, the former deputy leader of Germany's centrist Free Democratic Party (FDP), was being investigated over allegations that he broke laws on party funding, fraud and breach of trust.
He resigned from the party in March after being accused of anti-Semitism in the run-up to last year's parliamentary elections.
Mr Moellemann jumped out of the plane at 4,000 metres (13,200 feet).
One witness, who jumped from a plane at the same time as the politician, said all the group's parachutes had opened normally.
Mr Moellemann was "easily recognisable by the big letters JWM on his blue and yellow parachute," he said.
Then suddenly the chute broke free from Mr Moellemann's body, said the witness, himself an experienced skydiver.
"He must have detached it. At that stage in the descent that's all that could happen. There is no other possibility."
Mr Moellemann's spare chute then failed to open, and an automatic safety system, which would open it even if the parachutist had lost consciousness, did not activate it, the witness said.
"He must have switched it off," the witness added.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2965952.stm
German politician in death plunge
Juergen Moellemann had a passion for parachute jumps
A controversial former German minister has died in a parachute jump, shortly after parliament voted to lift his immunity over sleaze allegations.
Police said Juergen Moellemann, an experienced skydiver, died at an airfield near the town of Marl in his home state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Eyewitnesses are quoted as saying that his parachute opened normally, but that he took it off.
A state prosecutor would only say that Mr Moellemann became separated from the parachute in mid-air.
Like all the others, he had activated all the parachute's safety systems, in line with the instructions
Mr Moellemann, 57, had jumped with nine friends from a small plane, police said. The others landed safely.
Witnesses quoted in the German media said they believed the politician had committed suicide.
Shortly before, investigators began searching Mr Moellemann's home in Muenster and more than 20 other addresses in Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Spain.
Mr Moellemann, the former deputy leader of Germany's centrist Free Democratic Party (FDP), was being investigated over allegations that he broke laws on party funding, fraud and breach of trust.
He resigned from the party in March after being accused of anti-Semitism in the run-up to last year's parliamentary elections.
Mr Moellemann jumped out of the plane at 4,000 metres (13,200 feet).
One witness, who jumped from a plane at the same time as the politician, said all the group's parachutes had opened normally.
Mr Moellemann was "easily recognisable by the big letters JWM on his blue and yellow parachute," he said.
Then suddenly the chute broke free from Mr Moellemann's body, said the witness, himself an experienced skydiver.
"He must have detached it. At that stage in the descent that's all that could happen. There is no other possibility."
Mr Moellemann's spare chute then failed to open, and an automatic safety system, which would open it even if the parachutist had lost consciousness, did not activate it, the witness said.
"He must have switched it off," the witness added.
