German doctor accused of masterminding sports doping goes on trial
RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT
PLEASE SEE: EDIT NUMBER 3031 FOR COURT PICTURES
VIDEO SHOWS: VARIOUS OF COURT EXTERIORS / MUNICH PROSECUTION LAWYER, ANNE LEIDING SPEAKING ABOUT CASE
SHOWS: MUNICH, GERMANY (SEPTEMBER 16, 2020) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)
1. VARIOUS OF COURT EXTERIOR WITH PEOPLE QUEUING TO GET IN
2. COURT SIGN, READING: CRIMINAL COURT
3. MUNICH PROSECUTION LAWYER, ANNE LEIDING ARRIVING TO SPEAK TO MEDIA
4. MEDIA
5. (SOUNDBITE) (German) MUNICH PROSECUTION LAWYER, ANNE LEIDING, SAYING:
"The trial is hearing the accusation of professional and gang fraud in the use of prohibited doping substances. It is focused on this doctor and a small group of people who are alleged to have helped him over a longer period of time, already since 2011, repeatedly apply the so called blood doping of athletes especially in winter and cycling sports."
6. LEIDING TALKING TO MEDIA
7. (SOUNDBITE) (German) MUNICH PROSECUTION LAWYER, ANNE LEIDING, SAYING:
"Over the course of the investigations we of course discovered which athletes took part, which athletes were the so-called 'patients' in these sporting disciplines. At the end of the day though, it is the case in Germany that until the time the anti-doping law was passed the athletes were not punishable, so in this trial we have just arraigned the doctor and his helpers."
8. VARIOUS OF LEIDING SPEAKING
9. (SOUNDBITE) (German) MUNICH PROSECUTION LAWYER, ANNE LEIDING, SAYING:
"Now we will be bringing in the evidence and there are a lot of cases. We assume that we will be able to convince the court with the evidence at hand, that it took place in the way that we stated in our charges and that the main defendant will be looking at a multiple year sentence. Regarding the helpers it will depend on their actual role at the time and how much they aided the doctor."
10. MEDIA
11. (SOUNDBITE) (German) MUNICH PROSECUTION LAWYER, ANNE LEIDING, SAYING:
"At the end of the day we cannot rule out that witness statements or confessions of the accused during trial will lead to further information on individuals or situations."
12. LEIDING TALKING TO MEDIA
13. SECURITY
STORY: German prosecutors on Wednesday (September 16) said they were hopeful of a prison term for a German sports doctor accused of nearly a decade of doping crimes in professional sports.
"The trial is hearing the accusation of professional and gang fraud in the use of prohibited doping substances. It is focused on this doctor and a small group of people who are alleged to have helped him over a longer period of time, already since 2011, repeatedly apply the so called blood doping of athletes especially in winter and cycling sports," Munich prosecutor Anne Leiding said.
Germany's stringent anti doping law passed in 2015 makes doping a criminal offence for athletes and enablers, but said Leiding: "Over the course of the investigations we of course discovered which athletes took part, which athletes were the so-called 'patients' in these sporting disciplines. At the end of the day though, it is the case in Germany that until the time the anti-doping law was passed the athletes were not punishable, so in this trial we have just arraigned the doctor and his helpers."
The prosecution has evidence dating back to the end of 2011 that Mark S. was carrying out a variety of blood transfusions including growth hormones on athletes across the world but mainly in Germany and Austria.
As of 2014 Mark S. was aided by a small group of helpers who not only gained and income from the crimes but also managed logistics that ensured drug tests would be clean, a press statement from the court said.
"We assume that we will be able to convince the court with the evidence at hand, that it took place in the way that we stated in our charges and that the main defendant will be looking at a multiple year sentence. Regarding the helpers it will depend on their actual role at the time and how much they aided the doctor," Leiding said.
The case is a result of "Operation Bloodletting" under which police raided the Nordic Ski World Championships in Austria in February 2019 and arrested athletes just hours before the start of an event. In Germany, the doctor was arrested.
There are two forms of blood doping. Autologous blood doping is the transfusion of an athlete's own blood, which has been stored, refrigerated or frozen, until needed. Homologous blood doping is the transfusion of blood taken from another person with the same blood type.
The trial is set to continue until at least mid-December.
(production: Ayhan Uyanik, Markus Nagle, Tanya Wood)
