[A-List] Germany: vice ring scandal

["Michael Keaney" <michael.keaney@xxxxxx>]

MPs see no evidence of links to prostitutes
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Weekly, June 27 2003

The senior advisory committee on internal parliamentary affairs discussed
behind closed doors on Thursday claims that various members of the Bundestag
had been overheard ordering the services of prostitutes on wiretaps used in
the investigation that ensnared a well-known television moderator. A
committee member, the parliamentary business manager of the Social
Democrats, Wilhelm Schmidt, said "nothing official or unofficial" was yet
known about such claims, reported in the news media after anonymous threats
to go public were made via e-mail to at least one member of parliament.
Schmidt pointed out that prostitution is not illegal in Germany, but if the
calls were made on phones paid for by taxpayers, the "political correctness"
of such a practice would be another question. The Frankfurter Rundschau
newspaper, citing unnamed police sources in Berlin, said calls from as many
as 40 Bundestag numbers had been taped. A spokesman for the Berlin
prosecutors' office declined comment on whether any parliamentarians had
been overheard on the wiretaps, but said there were no plans to investigate
any politicians.

The moderator Michel Friedman, the host of two political talk shows and vice
president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, has kept out of the
public eye since allegations that he had been caught ordering prostitutes
during a probe of individuals suspected of human smuggling, and had used
cocaine, were made public two weeks ago. He was last reported to be in
Italy. Bild newspaper reported that a hair sample provided by Friedman had
proved positive for cocaine, but the prosecutors' office spokesman declined
comment. Friedman's lawyer, Eckhart Hild, has demanded that all police and
prosecutors' files in the case be made public.

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German euro notes show high level of cocaine contamination
Drug traces are spread to clean bills through everyday circulation

By John Weedon
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Weekly, June 27 2003

Nearly all German euro notes show traces of cocaine, Nuremberg's Institute
for Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Research reported this week, citing a new
study. In early 2002, shortly after the introduction of euro cash,
scientists had detected traces of this drug on just two out of every 70
banknotes. By August 2002, 90 percent of 700 tested euro notes were found to
be affected.

The German findings correspond to evidence for the United States and
Britain, countries with reportedly high cocaine consumption, the institute's
Professor Fritz Sörgel said. Absolute levels of contamination in Germany
have also increased, he added. While the average amount of cocaine found on
a German euro note was 0.4 micrograms (millionth of a gram), cocaine users
generally seem to prefer rolling up smaller bills. Larger bills over 100,
200 and 500 euros were found to show significantly smaller traces of
cocaine.

The scientist pointed out, however, that the widespread contamination must
not be understood to indicate that 90 percent of German euro notes have
actually been used to sniff the white powdery substance. Rather, he said,
residual amounts of cocaine on individual bills are spread to "clean" bills
through everyday cash circulation - for example, through cashiers and cash
machines - and bill sorting at banks.

In a study conducted before the introduction of euro cash, the Nuremberg
researchers detected cocaine above all on the bills of those countries where
consumption of this drug is known to be widespread. The highest trace of
cocaine, six milligrams, was found on a Spanish bill.

While the German government estimates the number of cocaine users in Germany
at 330,000, Sörgel believes it may be twice as high.

The Nuremberg professor and his research team already caused furor three
years ago when they discovered traces of cocaine in the toilets of the
Reichstag parliamentary building in Berlin.