Sachsensumpf

Sachsensumpf (German: [ˈzaksn̩ˌzʊmpf]; "Saxony swamp") is the name given by journalists to a political, judicial and intelligence scandal in the German state of Saxony climaxing in 2007 when domestic intelligence dossiers about the purported implication of judicial and business figures in cases of child prostitution and illegal property deals during the early 1990s became public, raising the suspicion of parts of the state's government and judiciary being corrupted by criminal networks. According to the investigating authorities and the majority in the state's parliament, no substantial evidence for the existence of such criminal and corruptible networks could be found. They assert that the (now disbanded) organized crime office at the state's domestic intelligence service and its main source, a Leipzig police detective, had overstated the suspected cases in an unprofessional way, and some journalists had further exaggerated the facts. The opposition and some media still had doubts about the official explanation, even after a parliamentary inquiry committee had completed its work. Former victims of child prostitution as well as journalists reporting on the case have been charged with libel but were eventually acquitted, raising warnings by press freedom advocates.