German education minister to appear in parliament amid controversy

Germany's education minister, Bettina Stark-Watzinger, will appear before parliament's Education Committee next week, where she is expected to be grilled by the opposition over apparent efforts at her ministry to punish academics for public criticism.

Education Ministry leaders have been under fire over its response to an open letter signed by academics in Berlin criticizing the use of police force to remove pro-Palestinian protesters from the Free University of Berlin.

Stark-Watzinger denounced those who signed the letter in harsh and controversial terms.

But leaked emails from within her ministry later revealed that a very high-level official had requested a review into bringing potential criminal charges over the open letter - and whether the ministry could cut research funding from the academics involved as a consequence.

Those revelations prompted major public controversy, with many critics and thousands of university employees describing it as an attack on academic freedom and an apparent attempt to silence free speech.

Stark-Watzinger dismissed her top deputy at the ministry, who had initiated the review, but denied being involved in requesting the review.

Some opposition lawmakers from the conservative CDU/CSU bloc have continued to press the issue and demand further clarification.

Thomas Jarzombek (CDU), education policy spokesperson for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, said that Stark-Watzinger's behaviour and statements over the past few days had raised new questions and demanded that the minister answer questions in the committee.

On Friday, an Education Ministry spokeswoman said that Stark-Watzinger would appear before the committee on Wednesday.