Operation Bloodletting doping trial - prosecutor demands five and a half years in prison

According to the public prosecutor, the doctor, who also used to work for the Gerolsteiner and Milram cycling teams, had been supplying Nordic skiers and cyclists in particular with doping substances or helping them with their own blood doping with a doping network operating out of Erfurt since 2012. In addition to the prison sentence, the prosecution requested a five-year professional ban for the doctor. The prosecution demanded prison sentences of between one and two and a half years for Mark S.'s four accused assistants, who acted as messengers or carried out blood transfusions.

It is the first major criminal proceedings based on the anti-doping law introduced at the end of 2015. Senior public prosecutor Gräber spoke of "uncharted legal territory". In their pleas, the defence lawyers discussed whether there could be integrity worthy of protection and equal opportunities worthy of protection in a sport contaminated by doping, as provided for by the anti-doping law. The doped athletes had decided to dope voluntarily and against payment. According to many observers, the outcome of the trial, the judgements and their review are likely to be a litmus test for the anti-doping law, which is not uncontroversial among lawyers, but offers prosecutors more far-reaching powers in the fight against doping. The court plans to deliver its verdict on 15 January 2021.