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Leyendecker, Hans
3 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.
How far can investigative journalism go?
In recent days the Czech Republic has been rocked by a scandal involving a TV station that tried to expose the dirty methods purported to be rife in Prague's politics with the help of a member of parliament. They offered for sale supposedly compromising nude photos that were then actually used in attempts at blackmail. Hans Leyendecker, one of Germany's top investigative journalists, talks about the case in an interview with the liberal weekly Respekt and concludes: "An approach like this raises legal and ethical issues. In Germany one would certainly be moving on the border of legality. There is a consensus among serious journalists here that one does not use methods like taking nude photos. ... The journalist cannot act as an agent provocateur. His task is to portray reality, not create it."
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More from the press review on the subject » Audiovisual Media, » Print media, » Germany, » Czech Republic
All available articles from » Anneke Hudalla
The EU harshens its tone against tax evasion
Hans Leyendecker expresses the view that a tough discussion about banking secrecy needs to be conducted at a Europe-wide level, because it's not just about envy but about the rule of law. "Each country makes its own laws, and its own fiscal laws, too. However, countries like Liechtenstein and Switzerland that regard tax evasion as mere infringements to be punished at most with fines, but otherwise hide behind the banking secrecy regulations and refuse to aid law enforcement, are guilty of aiding and abetting tax fraud. They make their own decisions about whether to regard an offence committed in Germany as criminal or not. The 'we'll hide your money from the tax authorities' business model is a brutal policy that serves special interests. ... Switzerland's banking secrecy laws were tightened in 1934 to allow the country to avoid having to pass on information about Jewish accounts to the Nazi authorities. That was the right move back then, but today banking secrecy regulations need to be relaxed for the sake of justice."
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More from the press review on the subject » Fiscal Policy, » Tax Policy, » Germany, » Switzerland, » Europe
No new revelations in the "Rosenholz" files
The "Rosenholz files," compiled by the Stasi, were brought to the US after the Wall came down in 1989 and were handed over to the Germany's Stasi documentation authority in 2003. A research group began to decode them and parts of the files are now being released. Hans Leyendecker comments: "It's still the usual suspects. No new names have come to light. The number of Stasi collaborators in the Bundestag was and remains within reason. Perhaps all the fuss was also because certain conservatives had hoped to rewrite the history of the vote of no confidence [against former German Chancellor Willy Brandt, 1972]. However, the files don't provide the evidence for this. This case shows that the worst scandals of the cold war era have already been cleared up. Most of those who acted as informants for the GDR's secret service have already been unmasked over the past few years. Rumours that the Rosenholz files handed over by the CIA would change the history of the two Germanys have proven false."
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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Germany
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