The 72-year-old Otto Z. appeared on the first day of the hearing before the Munich Higher Regional Court in a jacket and workman’s trousers. He is accused of having a scientific conference volume forged in order to frame forensic pathologist Matthias Graw for plagiarism. The Munich District Court had sentenced him to two years and six months in prison in 2025.
In the witness stand, Graw described how the allegations came crashing down on him in the summer of 2022. The University of Hamburg considered the plagiarism allegations to be resolved a few months later. Nevertheless, the forensic pathologist has been confronted with civil lawsuits from Otto Z. for years – two were withdrawn, a third is, according to Graw’s lawyer, about to be dismissed.
The defendant used his right to question Graw with highly specialized digressions. Judge Thomas Hense pointed out to him that the case was about the charges, not a doctoral examination procedure. Z.’s lawyers Deniz Aydin and Mathias Grasel then took over the questioning.
Source: www.faz.net
