Arrested soldier goes on hunger strike

Bundeswehr soldier arrested after refusing Covid 19 vaccination and fined / BSW MP in talks with prison management / Military law expert: mandatory corona virus vaccination for soldiers “inadmissible”

Source: Multiploar, 20 Sept. 2024

The recently arrested Bundeswehr soldier Alexander Bittner went on a “dry hunger strike” on 17 September in protest against his arrest. The sergeant major, who is being held in Aichach Prison near Augsburg, is no longer consuming food or water. Bittner was found guilty of insubordination in October 2022 because he did not want to be injected with an mRNA-based corona virus vaccine.

The 41-year-old was subsequently sentenced to a suspended prison sentence of six months by the Ingolstadt district court and ordered to pay a probation condition of 2,500 euros. He rejected the condition. “I am not guilty”, accepting the payment would have been an admission of guilt, explained Bittner in an interview with the radio station “Kontrafunk”. At the end of his probation period, the soldier would have had to start his prison sentence on 9 September 2024. As he did not do so, an arrest warrant was issued. On 16 September, Bittner was arrested at his barracks by the Ingolstadt police on the instructions of the local public prosecutor’s office. He was there to hand in his sick note.

Bittner is the sole breadwinner and father of three children. According to his wife and the human rights organisation “United For Freedom” (UFF), which supports him, he is allowed to talk on the phone for ten minutes once a week. Friedrich Pürner (BSW), a doctor and Member of the European Parliament, has requested a meeting with the prison management and the senior sergeant detained there at short notice. Pürner confirmed this to Multipolar. So far, however, the prison has not responded to the request. “Mr Bittner’s health is my absolute priority,” emphazised Pürner. The doctor used to work as the head of the health department in the district of Aichach-Friedberg and as a prison doctor.

The basis for Bittner’s conviction was the “obligation to tolerate Covid-19 vaccinations” for members of the German armed forces introduced in November 2021 by the then Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (CDU). The obligation was abolished again in May 2024 following a vote by the Defence Medical Advisory Board and the recommendation of the Inspector of the Bundeswehr Medical Service.

Another soldier, corporal Jan Reiners, has already completed a corresponding prison sentence. In July 2024, he began his 40-day sentence in the Lingen prison in Lower Saxony. Prior to this, the Bundeswehr, in which he served for twelve years, had “taken everything away from him”, Reiners said in the Kontrafunk interview. “My Bundeswehr driving licence, my military ID card, I was no longer allowed to go to the barracks just like that, I was treated like a serious criminal.” Since then, the ex-soldier has been living on citizens’ income.

His lawyer Edgar Siemund, an expert in military law and a retired lieutenant in the reserves, explained that “the order for the Covid vaccination was illegal”. Section 17a (2) of the German Soldiers Act states: “The soldier must only tolerate medical measures against his will if they serve to prevent or combat communicable diseases.” The corona vaccinations were not tested for protection against transmission of the virus as part of their emergency authorisation. This was confirmed by Pfizer Director Janine Small in October 2022 in a special committee of the European Parliament. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) also confirmed that “COVID-19 vaccines are not authorised to prevent transmission from one person to another”.

According to Article 2 of the Basic Law, everyone has “the right to life and physical integrity”. Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Civil Pact) states: “In particular, no one shall be subjected to medical or scientific experimentation without his voluntary consent.” Even in the event of a public emergency, this article may not be overridden. The facility-based vaccination requirement for nursing and healthcare staff was recently declared unconstitutional by the Osnabrück Administrative Court and sent to the Federal Constitutional Court for reassessment.