From Bild,Google translate.
Braunschweig - "I hope all this 


is over soon."
This is what witness Manfred S. (68) says this morning in Braunschweig District Court, meaning that the allegations against Christian Brückner (47) should finally be cleared up. The three rapes and the two cases of sexual abuse of children for which Brückner is on trial. And also the case of Maddie McCann (then 3), for whose disappearance the accused is allegedly responsible according to the public prosecutor's office. "I hope all this




is over soon" also sounds as if the witness was referring to his own questioning.
For six hours this Friday morning, the judge, prosecutors and defense lawyers grilled the pensioner from Lüdenscheid.
In 2006, he and his friend Helge B. (53) broke into Brückner's bungalow in Portugal, where they stole a camera and video tapes, among other things. The tapes allegedly showed Brückner raping several women. Two of these crimes, whose victims are still unknown, have now been charged in Braunschweig. That is why Manfred S. is on the witness stand.
The pensioner is a difficult witness, his memory occasionally seems to let him down. He has already commented on the videos several times: during questioning by the BKA in 2018, at a trial against Brückner in 2019, in several TV interviews.
On this morning, he remembers some things differently than in previous statements.
The first victim, whom the accused allegedly raped on a table, was about 60 years old, estimated Manfred S. The judge then reproaches him, saying that he had estimated the woman to be about 40 years old in the BKA interrogation.
The first act seen on the videos did not take place in Brückner's house, said Manfred S. The defense then showed the witness a TV interview in which he claimed that both rapes had taken place in Brückner's house. He had recognized that on the videos.
The witness also made contradictory statements about whether the perpetrator was masked or not. Sometimes he claimed to have recognized the defendant by his voice, sometimes to have seen him clearly.
But that is not the end of the unpleasant day for the witness.
When asked by the judge, Manfred S. says that the day before he last spoke on the phone with his ex-accomplice Helge B., who is due to testify in court soon.
The defense asks how long this conversation lasted. When the witness could not remember this either, defense lawyer Dr. Friedrich Fülscher (39) requested that Manfred S.'s call list be disclosed. It turns out that the witnesses spoke to each other four times on the morning of the trial.
"Making phone calls to Helge B. is not a criminal offense," Judge Uta Inse Engemann warns the witness. "Making false statements is a criminal offense. What else is wrong that you need to clarify?"
The witness says meekly that he is not aware of anything else.
The trial will continue on March 14.
Manfred S. will Videos gesehen haben, auf denen Christian Brückner zwei Frauen vergewaltigt. Als Zeuge im Prozess musste er dem Gericht sein Handy zeigen.
www.bild.de