Trial against German ex-president to be cut short

The trial against former German President Christian Wulff over receiving favors is likely to be cut short due to insufficient evidence, a judge said Thursday in the northern city of Hanover. Frank Rosenow, presiding judge of the regional court in Hanover, capital of the state of Lower Saxony, said he would hear more witnesses, but plans to end the trial in early January, three months earlier than originally scheduled. The main reason for his decision lies in a lack of criminally relevant evidence against the former head of state, Rosenow noted. Wulff went on trial in November in Hanover, accused of illegally accepting and granting favors while he was in office as governor of Lower Saxony. Wulff is alleged to have accepted the payment of hotel bills by a film producer when he attended the October beer festival in Munich in 2008. In return, he is accused of having lobbied the head of a major electronics company to support a film work of the producer, who is facing the same charges. If convicted, Wulff will face up to three years in jail. The former head of state rejected all the allegations and said he was certain he would dispel the claims against him. Wulff, 54, served as Germen President less than two years and stepped down in Feburary 2012 over scandals sparked by a private loan on favorable terms, one day after prosecutors asked the parliament to lift his immunity from prosecution. He had originally faced more serious charges of corruption, but the Hanover court only approved the less serious charges of taking favors due to lack of evidence.