Harald Range

Harald Range (16 February 1948 – 2 May 2018)[1] was a German jurist and was Attorney General of Germany.

Harald Range
Attorney General of Germany
In office
17 November 2011 – 4 August 2015
ChancellorAngela Merkel
Preceded byMonika Harms
Succeeded byPeter Frank
Personal details
Born(1948-02-16)16 February 1948
Göttingen, Germany
Died2 May 2018(2018-05-02) (aged 70)
Karlsruhe, Germany
Political partyFDP
Alma materUniversity of Göttingen

Early life and career

After completing his studies at the University of Göttingen Range began his career with the judiciary of Lower Saxony, serving as a judge from 1975–78, as a prosecutor from 1978–86 and as a senior prosecutor at the Higher Regional Court in Celle from 1986–89.

From 1989–2001 Range held various roles within the Lower Saxon Ministry of Justice, including as the leader of the Criminal Law, Law of Criminal Proceedings, and Clemency Unit. From 2001 until 2011 Range served as the State Attorney General in Celle.

Attorney General of Germany

Range served as Attorney General of Germany from November 2011 until 2015.[2]

Following the 2011 attack on the British Embassy in Iran, Range launched investigative proceedings against possible plans for Iranian attacks on American military installations in Germany in the event of an attack against Iran.[3]

After coming under pressure from Parliament and the news media in June 2014, Range began a formal investigation of what he called “unknown” members of American intelligence agencies on suspicion that they had eavesdropped on one of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cellphones.[4] By June 2015, he dropped the investigation because of a lack of concrete evidence.[5]

Based on the code of crimes against international law, Range investigated members of the Syrian government under President Bashar al-Assad on suspicion of committing crimes against humanity in 2015.[6]

In the aftermath of the treason investigation of netzpolitik.org, Federal Minister of Justice Heiko Maas forced Range into retirement for breach of public trust on 4 August 2015.[7][8]

Death

On the night of 2 May 2018, he collapsed in a café in Karlsruhe and subsequently died. According to Deutsche Welle, "reports suggest" that his death was caused by a heart attack.[9]

Other activities

References
  1. Alexandra Gräfin zu Castell-Rüdenhausen and Rolf Kleine (May 3, 2018), Generalbundesanwalt a.D. Harald Range gestorben BILD.
  2. "Generalbundesanwalt Harald Range". generalbundesanwalt.de. Attorney General of Germany. Retrieved 2014-06-04.
  3. Gladstone, Rick; Kulish, Nicholas (December 1, 2011). "West Tightens Iran Sanctions After Embassy Attack". The New York Times.
  4. Alison Smale (June 5, 2014), Germany Begins Inquiry of U.S. in Surveillance Case New York Times.
  5. Melissa Eddy (June 12, 2015), Germany Drops Inquiry Into Claims U.S. Tapped Angela Merkel’s Phone New York Times.
  6. Norbert Demut (March 17, 2015), German prosecutors say investigating members of Syrian government Reuters.
  7. Michael Nienaber (2015-04-08). "Germany sacks top prosecutor in row over treason inquiry". reuters.com. Retrieved 2015-05-08.
  8. Staff writer(s) (2015-04-08). "German Attorney General Sacked over Treason Case". http://en.haberler.com. Retrieved 2015-05-08. External link in |website= (help)
  9. "Controversial ex-Attorney General Harald Range dies aged 70". Deutsche Welle. 2018-05-03.
  10. Members of the Board of Trustees Lions Foundation Germany.


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