A judge in Germany received a two-year suspended sentence for attempting to overturn a mask mandate at two schools in Weimar, The Local reports.

The Erfurt Regional Court found the judge guilty of judicial misconduct on Wednesday.

The decision stems from the judge’s 2021 ruling that said children at the schools did not have to wear masks, contrary to the rules given at the time by the Thuringian Ministry of Education.

The Local reports:

The prosecution had requested a three-year jail term for the judge, who was found guilty of judicial misconduct on Wednesday by the Erfurt Regional Court. The defence had sought an acquittal.

The presiding judge said the defendant in his 2021 ruling had issued a judgment at the Weimar District Court reflecting his own personal views “that he had intended from the outset.”

In April 2021, the family judge ruled that children at two schools in Weimar did not have to wear Covid masks in class, contrary to the rules set at the time by the Thuringian Ministry of Education. His decision was later overturned by higher courts. which said he had never been authorized to make rulings of this kind.

German states ended school mask mandates in April 2022.

Teller Report added:

A public prosecutor said in her plea at the Erfurt Regional Court that the family judge had secretly and “with a high level of criminal energy” set up a child protection procedure to take action against the mask requirement. He wanted to send a signal against the state measures that existed at the time.”

The judge’s decision was overturned in subsequent instances. The lawyer had no jurisdiction for the question submitted to him, the Thuringian Higher Regional Court decided. The judicial review of state orders on corona protection measures is “solely the responsibility of the administrative courts”. The Federal Court of Justice has since confirmed this view.

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