Juergen Moellemann had a passion for parachute
jumps |
Investigators
into the dramatic death of maverick German politician Juergen
Moellemann say there was nothing wrong with the parachute he had on
during his fatal fall.
Local prosecutor Wolfgang Reinicke said there were no technical
defects or evidence of tampering with the parachute before the jump,
thereby fuelling speculation that he committed suicide.
Earlier, an autopsy on the politician's body found he had no
drugs or alcohol in his system at the time of the jump.
 That doesn't fit the picture I have of
Juergen Moellemann, because he was a fighter 
Hans-Dietrich Genscher
former German foreign minister
|
Mr Moellemann,
an experienced skydiver, died at an airfield near the town of Marl
in his home state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
The former deputy leader of Germany's centrist Free Democratic
Party (FDP) was being investigated at the time over allegations that
he broke laws on party funding, fraud and breach of trust.
Search continues
Mr Moellemann, 57, had jumped with nine friends from a small
plane. The others landed safely.
Shortly before, investigators began searching Mr Moellemann's
home in Muenster and more than 20 other addresses in Germany,
Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Spain.
Prosecutors in the city of Duesseldorf are still investigating
five other suspects in the case, and a search of Mr Moellemann's
holiday home in the Canary Islands continued on Friday.
Mr Moellemann jumped out of the plane at 4,000 metres (13,200
feet).
One witness, who jumped from a plane at the same time as the
politician, said all the group's parachutes had opened normally.
Then suddenly the chute broke free from Mr Moellemann's body,
said the witness, adding that he must have detached it himself.
Mr Moellemann's spare chute then failed to open, indicating that
he must have switched off a safety mechanism in it, he said.
'Time for sympathy'
But a former colleague said he found the suicide theory difficult
to believe.
"That doesn't fit the picture I have of Juergen Moellemann,
because he was a fighter," said former foreign minister
Hans-Dietrich Genscher.
"When he suffered a setback - and this wasn't the first time - he
started over again."
Mr Moellemann was elected to parliament in 1972 and served as
education minister and later economics minister under former
Chancellor Helmut Kohl.
He had a passion for skydiving and often arrived by parachute at
party rallies.
Last year, he became notorious for making allegedly anti-Semitic
remarks, and issued a leaflet criticising Israeli and German Jewish
leaders.
The scandal led to his resignation from the FDP in March.
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