German ex-president Wulff cleared in favours trial

BERLIN (AFP) - A court on Thursday cleared former German president Christian Wulff of influence-peddling, closing a high-profile case that sparked the resignation of the former head of state two years ago.

"The accused Wulff has been found not guilty," presiding judge Frank Rosenow told Hanover regional court, adding that the defendant was entitled to compensation for police searches in the investigation.

"There is simply no powerful evidence against the accused," Rosenow said about Wulff, who was once a deputy leader of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats party.

The verdict marked the end of a legal and political drama around the one-time conservative rising star who fell from power and grace amid claims he took favours from rich friends and tried to bully the media into silence.

Wulff, 54, who had been Germany's youngest-ever president, had insisted on his innocence and last year rejected an offer to settle the case with a 20,000-euro ($27,000) fine, vowing instead to clear his name and honour.

Compared to political scandals that make headlines elsewhere, the charges seemed trifling to many, as prosecutors built a case around payments that amounted to about 720 euros ($980).

The sum is made up of hotel room and babysitting costs and a restaurant meal that a friend, film producer David Groenewold, 40, allegedly paid for the Wulff family during a joint visit to Munich for the 2008 Oktoberfest.

Wulff, then state premier of Lower Saxony, was accused of influence-peddling because he later lobbied the then CEO of industrial conglomerate Siemens, Peter Loescher, for support for a Groenewold movie project, the 2009 wartime drama "John Rabe".

The ex-president told the court he promoted the film because he believed in the story -- the true tale of a Siemens manager who saved more than 200,000 Chinese when Japanese forces committed the Nanjing massacre in 1937-38.

The judge dismissed the prosecution case against Wulff and co-accused Groenewold, asking: "Is it really conceivable that the premier of a state allows himself to be bought for peanuts?"

- 'Personal damage' -

At the start of his trial in November, Wulff had voiced indignation, demanded "justice" and said that "the personal damage that I and my family have suffered will stay, probably a lifetime".

Since his exit from the largely ceremonial office in February 2012, he has lived in relative seclusion, again drawing heavy media attention when he separated from the glamorous former first lady Bettina Wulff.

In a short statement Thursday, Wulff welcomed the judgement and said he was now heading off to spend time with his son and daughter "who will see their father a little more relaxed than in the past two years".

Prosecutors have been accused in the media of running an over-zealous and petty investigation, aiming for a guilty verdict that would justify in hindsight the launch of the criminal probe that sparked Wulff's downfall.

Other commentators have said the trial, which involved dozens of witnesses and tens of thousands of pages of evidence, served to signal that no German public official stands above the law, not even the president.

The Wulff political scandal started with revelations he had failed to declare a cheap 2008 home loan from the wife of a tycoon friend, followed by a cascade of reports about other alleged gifts and favours, including luxury holidays.

The behaviour, widely caricatured as that of a "bargain-hunter", came under fire as unworthy of a head of state who, ensconced in Berlin's sumptuous Bellevue Palace, serves as a kind of moral arbiter for the nation.

Wulff compounded the damage by initially denying claims against him, and appearing to try to stop coverage of the scandal with an angry voice mail message he left for the powerful editor of Germany's biggest selling daily Bild.

After a sombre farewell ceremony with military honours, Wulff was succeeded in the post by Joachim Gauck, a former Lutheran pastor and East German anti-communist activist.

Wulff plans to start working as a lawyer for a large legal firm next month, news weekly Focus reported days ago, where he would be tasked with representing companies from Turkey and the Arab world who want to do business in Germany.