Following reports of allegations against Rammstein frontman Till Lindemann, the public prosecutor's office in Berlin has now initiated preliminary proceedings against him.
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- The Berlin authorities have opened an investigation against Rammstein singer Till Lindemann.
- It is said that the police and the public prosecutor's office in Berlin have received several complaints since last week.
- According to the newspaper "Bild", there is an initial suspicion against the 60-year-old singer under Section 177 of the German Criminal Code (sexual assault; sexual coercion; rape).
As of today, Rammstein singer Till Lindemann is a case for the Berlin judiciary.
The preliminary proceedings against the 60-year-old musician were initiated on the basis of several criminal complaints and ex officio. This was announced by a spokeswoman for the authorities on Wednesday, following initial reports in "Bild" and "Tagesspiegel".
According to the public prosecutor's office, the charges were filed by third parties "not involved in the crime". No further details could be provided at present, it said, citing the ongoing investigations and the protection of the personal rights of those involved.
Senator for Justice Felor Badenberg (non-party) had previously reported on the case to the Justice Committee of the Berlin House of Representatives in camera. The background to this was a question from a Berlin left-wing politician regarding reports about the accusations against the frontman of the Berlin band.
If the public prosecutor's office becomes aware of the suspicion of a criminal offense, it must investigate. Media reports can be the trigger for this. The presumption of innocence applies until the investigation is complete.
Serious allegations against Till Lindemann
Several women have made allegations against Lindemann in recent days, some of them anonymously. The women described situations that they found frightening in some cases.
Young women had been selected during concerts and asked if they wanted to come to the after-show party. According to some of the women, sexual acts also took place.
Till Lindemann denied the allegations against him last Thursday. He is having his interests represented by a lawyer, as Berlin lawyers Simon Bergmann and Christian Schertz announced on June 8.
"Serious allegations have been made against our client by various women on social networks, particularly on Instagram, Twitter and YouTube," they said in a statement.
"For example, it was repeatedly claimed that women were drugged with knockout drops or alcohol at Rammstein concerts in order to enable our client to perform sexual acts on them. These allegations are untrue without exception."
When asked by dpa on Wednesday evening, the lawyers were initially unable to comment on the investigations by the Berlin public prosecutor's office.
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