Criminal complaint filed against German Chancellor Merz, Foreign Minister Wadephul for aiding Israel's genocide in Gaza

A group of lawyers filed a criminal complaint against German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and his key ministers on Friday, accusing them of aiding and abetting Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

During a Berlin press conference, lawyer Nadija Samour from the European Legal Support Center (ELSC) announced that their criminal complaint also names former Chancellor Olaf Scholz and former Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock as accomplices.

"The genocide against the Palestinian people has been live-streamed for almost two years. It is now time for justice and accountability," she said, pointing out that current and previous government officials are complicit in genocide, primarily through their approval of weapons exports that were used against Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

The complaint specifically accused seven current and former government officials, including current Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul and Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, who as members of Germany's Federal Security Council, approved arms exports to Israel despite international warnings about war crimes and ethnic cleansing taking place in Gaza.

The previous German coalition government headed by Social Democrat Olaf Scholz approved more than €485 million ($570 million) worth of arms and military equipment from October 2023 to May 2025.

The new coalition government under conservative Merz, which took office this May, continued this policy, approving additional arms shipments to Israel worth nearly €4 million ($4.7 million) in just its first month in power through June 10, 2025, according to official figures.

While Merz announced last month that Berlin will no longer approve new weapon exports that can be used in Gaza, he did not pledge to stop the delivery of weapons and equipment that were already approved before.