It's one of those odd German 'frustrations' and title problems that come out about once or twice a year.
So for a number of years down in the Saarland area (SW Germany), there was this guy.....Andreas Neumann. He'd introduced himself, and gotten into the Linke Party organization there regionally. He'd given some speeches, and eventually rose up to district chairman for the Linke organization of Saarlouis (a significant town in the Saar region). He claimed a doctorate degree. In simple terms....he had status.
No one says why, but there came some discussion over his degree, and the university that had granted it. Then the whole story fell apart....it's not a 'real' university. Fake degree? Yep, more or less.
So the party has fired him. But that's really not the end. You can get into serious trouble here in Germany, if you claimed some degree of a fake nature. Because the court is involved now....he had to appear in front of a judge.
It would appear the current fine for this will end up being around 50 Euro, but for the probationary 'cost'....it's in the 1,800 Euro.
Where'd the doctorate degree come from? University of Lancaster.....2003, in Philosophy.
So was this 'sudden'? No. What several journalists hint at....is that for more than a decade....questions were brought up over this guy, and how he got a degree.
About every six months, some German ethical dilemma will arise over the fake degree business, or some serious issue over plagiarism on some gal's thesis from twenty years ago.
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