Anyone familiar with writings by Jürgen Roth?

[Possibility of Being]

Here is his blog:

_http://www.juergen-roth.com/blog

He is an author of several books, one of which, “Der Stille Putsch", has just been translated and published in Polish. It's got pretty good reviews, so I'm thinking about getting a copy. I tried to find something more about him, but not much is available in English. Apparently, he's "a top German journalist" investigating organized crime, corruption and economic mafias (and still "a top" one?); nothing on German SOTT either, so I thought I'd better ask here first. :)

 

[Iron]

His books are about his findings on organized crime?
The blog is in Deutsch, and I don't readly trust google translate.

EDIT: after posting I realized that this thread was in the Deutsch section. Sorry for the noise.

 

[Aiming]

I haven't yet heard of him, but his books do look interesting.

Unfortunately, on his blog there's an article about Putin, in which he "wants to call in mind" (without giving any sources) that in the 90s Putin played a substantial part in the corruption of St. Petersburg, i.e. was/is part of a corrupt Russian mafia, accepted bribes himself, embezzled large amounts of state money, "parking" it in the US. IOW, he's implying that Putin is the same kind of criminal other Russian politicians in power are and doesn't seem to have taken a deeper look.

He didn't reply to the reader comments to his article, where people were wondering why he was writing so unilateral, without sources, which was so contrary to his usual style.

That's all I've read so far, though.

 

[Possibility of Being]

His books are about his findings on organized crime?

Seems so. Not translated into English, AFAIK, but have many citations in English and Russian (opposition?) books. Weird.

The blog is in Deutsch, and I don't readly trust google translate.

EDIT: after posting I realized that this thread was in the Deutsch section. Sorry for the noise.

No problem, Iron. :)
Found a website with some of his articles in English:

_http://flarenetwork.org/
You need to put "Jurgen Roth" in the search box.

His FB page:
https://www.facebook.com/jurgen.roth.587

Some (but not many) of his wall posts are in English.

Roth on Niemtzov (FB translation):

Wladmir wants to clarify the background of the contract murder of Boris Nemtsow "personally" Putin. He has ever announced that at the crash of the Polish presidential plane on April 10, 2010. The result: Manipulations, cover-ups and plenty of demonstrable falsehoods. And so it will be also the "enlightenment" of the contract murder. But perhaps I am wrong also.

Thanks, Aiming. From the very little I understand, it seems he holds Putin responsible for crime, mafia and corruption in Russia.

On the other hand, he won a court case in Bulgaria:
_http://www.freejock.com/novinite6january2011.html

German Journalist Jurgen Roth Wins Bulgarian Court Battle

On October 14 [2011], a Bulgarian court cleared renowned German publicist Jurgen Roth, who was sued by Bulgaria's former Interior Minister Rumen Petkov over alleged slander in Roth's book about organized crime in Bulgaria, entitled "The New Demons". ...

The trial was held behind closed doors due to the high-profile witnesses, including former Head of Unit for Combating Organized Crime (GDBOP) and current Customs Agency Director, Vanyo Tanov, and Former Interior Ministry Chief Secretary, Valentin Petrov.

In the book Roth cites sources making scandalous revelations Petkov has relations to organized criminal networks and is involved in the production of synthetic drugs in Bulgaria.

According to high-level unnamed officials in the Interior, quoted by Roth, the former interior minister personally controls trafficking of amphetamines from Bulgaria to Turkey and the Middle East, which was the practice of the Security Services during the Communist regime. Petkov is also said to have held meetings with top drug lords.

The investigative journalist has repeatedly confirmed that he stands behind every single word that he has written and would have done everything in the same way if he had to write his book today.

Jurgen Roth has decided not to come to Bulgaria for the trial, saying he fears for his life, but after being cleared visited Sofia to present his latest book and to meet top Bulgarian officials.

 

[Gawan]

I haven't yet heard of him, but his books do look interesting.

Unfortunately, on his blog there's an article about Putin, in which he "wants to call in mind" (without giving any sources) that in the 90s Putin played a substantial part in the corruption of St. Petersburg, i.e. was/is part of a corrupt Russian mafia, accepted bribes himself, embezzled large amounts of state money, "parking" it in the US. IOW, he's implying that Putin is the same kind of criminal other Russian politicians in power are and doesn't seem to have taken a deeper look.

He didn't reply to the reader comments to his article, where people were wondering why he was writing so unilateral, without sources, which was so contrary to his usual style.

That's all I've read so far, though.

He also wrote an entire book on Gazprom and it's structures.

Here is his blog:

_http://www.juergen-roth.com/blog

He is an author of several books, one of which, “Der Stille Putsch", has just been translated and published in Polish. It's got pretty good reviews, so I'm thinking about getting a copy. I tried to find something more about him, but not much is available in English. Apparently, he's "a top German journalist" investigating organized crime, corruption and economic mafias (and still "a top" one?); nothing on German SOTT either, so I thought I'd better ask here first. :)

At least he got several lawsuits against him cause of some of his claims.

 

[Possibility of Being]

At least he got several lawsuits against him cause of some of his claims.

I'm sorry, I don't understand what you meant by that. Could you elaborate on that please?

 

[luc]

At least he got several lawsuits against him cause of some of his claims.

I'm sorry, I don't understand what you meant by that. Could you elaborate on that please?

Maybe I'm wrong, but I think what Gawan was getting at is that the fact that he got some lawsuits against him because of his investigative journalism may show that he's onto something and willing to put himself "out there".

I think I stumbled across some of his work a while back, and I thought it's pretty interesting, but also kind of "best-sellerish". I think I saw his books even at the train station book shops here in Germany. Just speculating here, but he may be one of those "gatekeepers", who will do some good investigative work, but will only go so far and not touch or even distort some really important topics. Note also that his books are published mostly by mainstream publishers, among them Bertelsmann, one of the big international media empires. But that's really just a guess, since I'm not familiar with his work.

 

[Gawan]

At least he got several lawsuits against him cause of some of his claims.

I'm sorry, I don't understand what you meant by that. Could you elaborate on that please?

Maybe I'm wrong, but I think what Gawan was getting at is that the fact that he got some lawsuits against him because of his investigative journalism may show that he's onto something and willing to put himself "out there".

Sorry and yes, that is what I meant.

 

[Possibility of Being]

Maybe I'm wrong, but I think what Gawan was getting at is that the fact that he got some lawsuits against him because of his investigative journalism may show that he's onto something and willing to put himself "out there".

Can also be part of a PR campaign, not necessarily of his choice.

I think I stumbled across some of his work a while back, and I thought it's pretty interesting, but also kind of "best-sellerish". I think I saw his books even at the train station book shops here in Germany. Just speculating here, but he may be one of those "gatekeepers", who will do some good investigative work, but will only go so far and not touch or even distort some really important topics. Note also that his books are published mostly by mainstream publishers, among them Bertelsmann, one of the big international media empires. But that's really just a guess, since I'm not familiar with his work.

Thank you luc. That's a bit of a riddle given that he is still alive, not in jail and supported by mainstream. Hard to say whether he himself knows the limits and chooses not to go too far so that he can say at least something what he can prove as true or it's more about throwing some scraps of meat to the public to make them feel "well informed". Could be both.

I think, I'm going to get the translation out of curiosity.