Pre-Christmas hammer!
The Martin Luther University in Halle has issued a “temporary dismissal” against the well-known virologist Alexander Kekulé. The background is a disciplinary procedure, which reports the “Mitteldeutsche Zeitung“ (MZ).
Compared to the MZ, Kekulé announced legal action on Tuesday evening.
The virologist was one of the first experts in Germany to warn of the coronavirus. In addition to Christian Drosten and Hendrik Streeck, Kekulé is one of the best-known virologists who comment on Corona. He appears regularly on talk shows and has a successful podcast on MDR.
Alexander Kekulé said to BILD on Tuesday evening: “This is a political process.”
It is known that he has “repeatedly expressed criticism of the federal government and the Robert Koch Institute,” said Kekulé. The accusations of the university are “pulled by the hair”, it is “impossible how this university deals with its professors”.
► The dismissal became known on Tuesday through a letter that the medical director of the university clinic, Thomas Moesta, and the dean of the medical faculty, Michael Gekle, wrote to all around 50 clinic directors.
According to MZ, it states that the Rector’s decision will be “fully supported by us in the interests of the best possible health care”. It also explains what the interim management of the Institute for Medical Microbiology looks like, of which Kekulé has been head for around 20 years.
The reasons that led to Kekulé’s suspension are not mentioned in the letter. Moesta and Gekle ask the clinic directors for their understanding that no further information can be given about an ongoing procedure.
According to information from the MZ, the disciplinary procedure is, among other things, about the teaching load (teaching or teaching obligation) that every professor and therefore also Kekulé has to fulfill.
▶ ︎ The subject of an examination is evidently, among other things, the question of the extent to which Kekulé offered courses and whether they all took place in this way. This also applies to the time during the corona lockdown, when the apprenticeship took place virtually. A lecture event in the summer semester is apparently also being examined in this context.
Kekulé told BILD: “Since taking up my duties, I have fought to have the virology department at the university reasonably equipped. Because unfortunately the university management underestimated the topic of infectious diseases. After my letters to the dean, the medical director and the rectorate were unsuccessful, I talked to the responsible minister of the state government about it in summer 2020, who promised to see to it that we get the necessary equipment. I now see the university’s current step as an immediate response. “
The virologist to BILD: “In January the molecular biology laboratory was taken away from me. The laboratory, which, among other things, carries out the corona tests and generates considerable income for the clinic. Since then, legal proceedings have been ongoing. “
Kekulé speaks of a “political process”
▶︎ According to the report, the university rector used an investigator for the disciplinary proceedings. He is said to have come to the conclusion that the allegations against Kekulé are so serious that further steps must be taken. The provisional suspension is therefore such.
At first, the rectorate did not want to comment on the matter. “In principle, we do not comment on personnel matters,” said spokeswoman Manuela Bank.
Kekulé told the MZ that the subject of teaching commitments was just a form that he might not have filled out correctly.
Critics from the university business throw Alexander Kekulé For a long time, among other things, there has been a lack of research activity. For years he has hardly published any scientific articles in specialist journals. Kekulé has repeatedly fought against the allegations.
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