The suspended criminal trial against former VW CEO Martin Winterkorn regarding the diesel affair is scheduled to continue from February 2025. The Braunschweig Regional Court announced that from this point onwards the expert chamber assumed that the 77-year-old defendant would be able to travel and stand trial. A further 89 dates are planned for the procedure until February 2026. The trial against Winterkorn began in September 2024, almost exactly nine years after the emissions manipulation at the Wolfsburg car manufacturer was exposed. After a few days of trial, the proceedings were postponed due to an injury to the defendant. According to court statements at the time, Winterkorn had injured himself so seriously that he had to be hospitalized. Health problems in the past Court proceedings are generally allowed to be interrupted for a maximum of three weeks before they have to be rescheduled. Longer deadlines are only provided if a procedure has been running for a long time. Winterkorn was actually supposed to stand trial together with other VW managers in 2021, but the proceedings against him were postponed for health reasons.More on the subjectVolkswagen admitted in 2015, under pressure from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), that it had manipulated diesel emissions values using software. This ensured that the engines met the nitrogen oxide limits on the test bench, but emitted many times more of these toxic exhaust gases on the road. Winterkorn had to resign from his position. The scandal triggered a large number of lawsuits. In June 2023, the former head of the Volkswagen subsidiary Audi, Rupert Stadler, was sentenced by the Munich regional court to a suspended sentence and a fine worth millions. Stadler and other defendants are appealing the verdict.
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