Christoph Flügge
Christoph Flügge | |
|---|---|
| Permanent Judge at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia | |
| Assumed office 18 September 2008 | |
| Appointed by | Ban Ki-Moon |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 14 July 1947 |
| Nationality | Germany |
| Alma mater | Free University of Berlin, University of Bonn |
| Profession | Lawyer, district attorney, civil servant, judge |
Christoph Flügge (born 14 July 1947) is a German jurist and judge. From June 2001 to February 2007, he was Secretary of State in the Department of Justice of the State of Berlin. On 18 September 2008, he was appointed permanent judge at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).[1] As a result of controversial[2] comments made in 2009, he has been accused by genocide scholars and victims' groups of genocide denial in relation to the Bosnian Genocide and more specifically the Srebrenica genocide.[3][4][2]
Career
Flügge studied law from 1967 to 1973 at the Free University of Berlin and the University of Bonn. He graduated with the first state exam in 1973 and the second in 1976. He worked as assistant for an SPD Member of Parliament during his studies from 1969 to 1971, and was employed at a West Berlin law firm in 1973.
In 1976 he became secretary to Senator Kurt Neubauer (SPD). In 1977 he became district attorney, and from 1978, he worked in the Berlin Department of Justice. He was appointed as criminal judge at the Berlin Amtsgericht in 1983. In 1989, he returned to the Berlin Department of Justice. In 2001, he was appointed Secretary of State by Senator Wolfgang Wieland. He was dismissed as Secretary by Senator Gisela von der Aue in February 2007.
At the proposal of the Federal Ministry of Justice of Germany, he was appointed as permanent judge at the ICTY by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon in 2008.
He was a member of the trial chamber in the case against Serbia's former interior minister Vlastimir Đorđević. On 27 May 2011, he was appointed President of the trial chamber in the case against Ratko Mladić.[5]
He is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany.
Accusations of genocide denial
In 2009, Christoph Flügge made controversial[2] public comments in an interview with Der Spiegel[6] that were criticized for denying the Bosnian Genocide.[7] Flügge claimed the term genocide was "unnecessary" while describing the Srebrenica genocide, which has been determined to be genocide by the United Nations and the ICTY itself.[2] Several genocide scholars protested against his comments, accusing him of denial of the genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina.[3] The Congress of North American Bosniaks demanded that Flügge be removed from his position as judge, stating that the organisation was "shocked and confounded" by his statements "in which he openly questions the Srebrenica genocide", accusing him of genocide denial. The organisation demanded "a complete retraction of the statement" and "a full apology to all the victims of the genocide who have been hurt by this statement, at a time when they are getting ready to commemorate the 14th anniversary of the genocide and bury more victims who are still being identified from the many mass graves".[4]
Private life
Flügge is married. His wife is the head prison doctor at Moabit Prison in Berlin.
Publications
- DDR-Strafvollzug. Recht statt Drill. In: Neue Kriminalpolitik, 1990
- Alter Geist - neue Probleme. Strafvollzug nach der Wiedervereinigung. In: Neue Kriminalpolitik, 1991
- Assessment of the Ukrainian Prison System (Lakes/Fliigge/Philip/Nestorovic-Report), Council of Europe, Strasbourg 1997 (UKR V.B. 4 [97]1)
- ... und sie bewegt sich doch. Debatte um die Todesstrafe in der Ukraine. In: ai-Journal 6/1997
- Berlin zeigt Mut zur Reform. In: Neue Kriminalpolitik, 1/1998
- Untersuchungshaftanstalten des MfS. In: Strafvollzug in den neuen Bundesländern. Kriminologische Zentralstelle, Wiesbaden 1999
- Reassessment of the Needs of the Ukrainian Prison System. Council of Europe, Strasbourg 2004 (SG/Ukraine [2003] 1REV)
References
- ^ http://www.icty.org/x/file/About/Chambers/judges_bios_en/pj_flugge_bio_en.pdf
- ^ a b c d http://www.smh.com.au/world/judge-in-mladic-case-a-veteran-of-debate-20110528-1f9r7.html
- ^ a b "Protest from the Scientific Discussion". Institute for the Research of Genocide Canada. Retrieved 2011-05-29.
- ^ a b "CNAB Demands Removal of ICTY Judge Christoph Flügge". Congress of North American Bosniaks. 2009-07-08. Retrieved 2011-05-29.
- ^ "Christoph Flügge: Deutscher ist Chef-Richter bei Mladic-Verfahren" (in Template:De icon). Handelsblatt. Retrieved 2011-05-29.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link) - ^ "Mladic und sein Richter: Völkermord oder Massenmord?". Kleinezeitung.at. Retrieved 2011-05-29.
- ^ "German denying genocide of Muslims in Bosnia will try Mladic". Voice of Russia. Retrieved 2011-05-29.