Overview
- Ralph and Inka Orth announced plans to file a Klageerzwingungsverfahren to force an indictment against ex–Ahrweiler district chief Jürgen Pföhler.
- Their complaint follows the General Prosecutor’s orders dated October 16 dismissing six appeals and affirming the closure of the criminal probe.
- The parents allege late access to files, ignored independent expert reports, and the rejection of submitted evidence without proper review.
- Prosecutors found Pföhler was reachable by phone, that some actions were coordinated with him, and that the disaster’s extreme scale was not concretely foreseeable, so no criminal duty was breached; they also declined to extend the case to the ADD or its president.
- A separate disciplinary proceeding continues, with Pföhler currently receiving two-thirds of his pension and the Interior Ministry indicating revocation is likely; the July 2021 flood left 136 dead in Rhineland-Palatinate, including 135 in the Ahr valley.