Lutz Heilmann
Lutz Heilmann | |
|---|---|
| Member of the German Parliament for Schleswig-Holstein | |
| Assumed office 2005 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 7, 1966 Zittau, Germany |
| Political party | Die Linke |
| Other political affiliations | Socialist Unity Party of Germany (1986–1989) SED-PDS (1989–1992) Die Linkspartei.PDS (2000–?)[1] |
| Profession | Stasi employee (1985-1990) Cashier at filling station and carpet salesman (1991-2004) Articled clerk (2005) |
| Website | lutz-heilmann.info |
Lutz Heilmann (born September 7, 1966 in Zittau, Germany) is a member of the German Parliament, the Bundestag, for the far left[2] party Die Linke. He joined the Bundestag after the elections in 2005 as a member of the party list. Shortly thereafter it was revealed that he had worked for the Stasi (the East German secret police).
Revelation of Stasi work
Following his election in 2005, strong controversy erupted when it was revealed by the magazine Der Spiegel that he had worked for the Stasi (the East German secret police) from 1985 to 1990.[3] Heilmann is the only official full-time Stasi employee to be elected MP to the Bundestag; although several other Die Linke politicians have been "unofficial" Stasi informants.[4]
Heilmann narrowly survived an impeachment by the party electorate following his untruthfulness about his Stasi career prior to becoming MP.[3]
Heilmann worked in the so-called "Hauptverwaltung Aufklärung Personenschutz" department of Stasi, a large and important department within the Stasi that was directly subordinated Erich Mielke. The department was responsible for "Personenschutz" (i.e., "personal security"), but also took part in regular oppression activities and employed informants.[5] His employment record at Stasi states that Heilmann joined the Stasi because of political motivation and that he identified with his work and saw his future as a Stasi employee.[3] He left Stasi after it was dissolved following the fall of the communist regime.
The nomination of Lutz Heilmann as an MP by the Left Party has been strongly criticized by Hubertus Knabe, the director of the Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial. Knabe stated that Heilmann "has nothing to do in parliament", and said it is "unacceptable for the victims of the GDR communist regime to imagine that a man with such a past should serve in a parliament".[3]
Work history
He attended law school from 1992 to 2004, obtaining an undergraduate law degree (Diplom-Jurist) in 2004. During this time, he worked as a cashier at a filling station and as a carpet salesman.[1] After a period of being unemployed (2004-2005) he obtained a position as articled clerk (Rechtsreferendar) at the Landgericht (an intermediate court) in Lübeck[6] which he quit after being elected to the Bundestag.
Political activities
Heilmann took part in the "Jugendweihe" in 1981. He became a member of the communist party of the German Democratic Republic, the SED, at a time the party was still hardline totalitarian, in 1986, and has remained a member of its successor parties (SED-PDS, PDS, Die Linkspartei.PDS and now Die Linke), although he left the party in 1992 and rejoined in 2000.
Heilmann, who was previously married,[7] has lived openly gay since 2006 and has organized participation of the party's queer group at Christopher Street Days.[8]
In the Bundestag, his main activity has focused on transportation policy favoring the environment. He argued for an increase in the LKW-MAUT and against a proposed waiver of the motor vehicle tax for new cars.[9]
He has been involved in a fight within Die Linke, trying to get Lübeck party boss Ragnar Lüttke expelled from the party. Four-year old photographs showing Lüttke at a party celebrating Stalin's birthday were obtained by a Flensburg newspaper in October 2008.[10][11]
Lawsuit of Wikimedia Deutschland
On November 13, 2008, Heilmann pressed charges against Wikimedia Deutschland e.V. at the Landgericht Lübeck, obtaining a preliminary injunction which barred the internet address www.wikipedia.de (which is controlled by Wikimedia Deutschland) from linking to de.wikipedia.org (controlled by the U.S.-based Wikimedia Foundation) as long as certain information about him is included in the German Wikipedia in the article Lutz Heilmann. Heilmann also filed legal complaints against one Wikipedia editor and two other online writers.
According to Focus Online, Heilmann objected to claims that he had not completed his university degree, and that he had participated in a business venture involving pornography. (He did however admit that he had served as "youth protection officer" for an internet sex shop run by a room mate.[10]) The report also suggests that the Wikipedia article had been repeatedly altered in line with his claims by an anonymous user operating within the Bundestag building, but Heilmann denied having been involved in an edit war.[12]
In October 2008, some German newspapers had reported that Heilmann was under investigation for having threatened a former room mate and that the Bundestag had lifted his immunity in the matter.[11] Heilmann denied this and had a counter statement published.[13] This matter was reported in Heilmann's Wikipedia article.[14] This claim, as well as claims that he had withheld parts of his Stasi records, were also cited by Heilmann as reasons for his action against Wikimedia Deutschland.[15]
After some statements were removed from his German Wikipedia article and after major media coverage, Heilmann announced on November 16 that he would drop the legal proceedings against Wikimedia Deutschland, regretting that many uninvolved users of the encyclopedia had been affected.[16] He vowed to continue his pursuit of the Wikipedia editor who had originally added the offensive material.[17]
Heilmann later made a public apology for his actions against Wikipedia. "I didn't think it through and didn't anticipate the consequences," he admitted.[18] Wikimedia Germany reported that on the Saturday of the blocking it had received record donations of €16,000, compared to €3,000 on an average day.[19]
See also
- Katina Schubert, another politician of Die Linke who initiated proceedings against Wikipedia
References
- ^ a b Resume. Retrieved 21 November 2008. Template:De icon
- ^ Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz: Verfassungsschutzbericht 2007, p. 149. Template:De icon
- ^ a b c d Spiegel Online - Biografien: Ein Stasi-Mann spaltet die Linkspartei, 4 December 2005. Template:De icon
- ^ "Birthler: Linksfraktion ist stasiverseucht", in Berliner Kurier, September 24, 2005. Template:De icon
- ^ «Wikipedia, die Stasi und der Linken-Politiker», Die Welt, November 16, 2008
- ^ Bundestag biography Lutz Heilmann. Template:De icon
- ^ Linkspartei Lübeck kämpft für Lutz Heilmann, HL-Live, 1 August 2005. Template:De icon
- ^ Newsletter by Lutz Heilmann, July/August 2008. Retrieved 21 November 2008. Template:De icon
- ^ Lutz Heilmann, page at Die Linke. Retrieved 20 November 2008. Template:De icon
- ^ a b Linke waschen Schmutzwäsche, taz, 22 October 2008. Template:De icon
- ^ a b Schmutzkampagne in der Linken: Jetzt gerät Heilmann unter Beschuss, Lübecker Nachrichten, 21 October 2008. Template:De icon
- ^ Focus Online - Wikipedia: Einstiegsseite wegen Klage blockiert, 15 November 2008. Template:De icon
- ^ Gegendarstellung by Heilman, HL-live.de, 22 October 2008. Template:De icon
- ^ Bundestagsabgeordneter lässt wikipedia.de sperren, Heise Online, 15 November 2008. Template:De icon
- ^ Politiker will nicht mehr auf Wikipedia-Sperrung bestehen, Tagesschau, 16 November 2008. Template:De icon
- ^ "German Wikipedia back online after dispute". Associated Press. 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-18.
The German-language portal to the Internet encyclopedia Wikipedia was back online Monday after a left-wing lawmaker dropped a legal complaint.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Wikipedia-Sperre: Bundestagsabgeordneter Heilmann kapituliert, Heise online, 16 November 2008. Template:De icon
- ^ "Lawmaker apologizes for blocking Wikipedia". Reuters. 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-20.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Abgeordneter ließ Wikipedia sperren, Manager Magazin, 16 November 2008. Template:De icon
External links
- Lutz Heilmann, official page at Die Linke, listing his speeches, legislative initiatives and press releases. Template:De icon
- Private website Template:De icon
- Preliminary injunction from the Landsgericht Lübeck, November 13th, 2008, containing the offending statements. Template:De icon