Free the Duesseldorf Six

17 February 2003

Former board members of Mannesmann face prosecution for agreeing, or receiving, special bonuses after its takeover battle with Vodafone. Such a show trial will be a sterile and backward looking waste of time.

This content is for Subscribers only

Context News

Public prosecutors have charged six people in connection with payments made to Mannesmann executives after its takeover battle with Vodafone in 2000. The defendants are reported to include Josef Ackermann, the chief executive of Deutsche Bank and Klaus Zwickel, head of the IG Metall trade union, both of whom were members of Mannesmann's supervisory board. Klaus Esser, the former Mannesmann chief executive, who received a bonus of about E30m, is among the other defendants. "There is not the slightest suspicion of any kind of illegal behaviour on my part," Reuters reports Esser as saying.

Email a friend

Please complete the form below.

Required fields *