25 January 2023
On 2 January 2023, a German doctor was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison for illegally issuing over 4,000 people with exemptions from wearing masks during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to a regional court in Weinheim, the doctor was convicted of “issuing incorrect health certificates” to people from across Germany, mostly whom she had never met or examined. In addition to the prison sentence, she was handed a three-year work ban and ordered to pay €28,000. Her assistant was fined €2,700. The court stated that the process was more like a “sale of certificates” than a medical procedure. The doctor argued during the trial that wearing masks was harmful to people’s health. Her lawyer intends to appeal the verdict.
