A German physician was sentenced late Monday to two years and 9 months in jail for illegally issuing greater than 4,000 individuals with exemptions from carrying masks in the course of the coronavirus pandemic.

A regional court docket within the southwestern city of Weinheim confirmed Tuesday that the physician was convicted of “issuing incorrect health certificates” to individuals from throughout Germany, most of whom she had by no means met or examined.

In addition to the jail sentence she was handed a three-year work ban and ordered to pay 28,000 euros ($29,550), the sum she had obtained for issuing the medical certificates. Her workplace assistant was fined 2,700 euros.

“The process is more reminiscent of a sale of certificates than a medical procedure,” the court docket mentioned in a press release. It famous that she was not faulted for offering certificates to her present sufferers.

During the trial the defendant had argued that carrying masks was dangerous to individuals’s well being.

The physician’s lawyer intends to attraction the decision, public broadcaster SWR reported.

Dozens of supporters gathered exterior the court docket in Weinheim, north of Heidelberg, to protest in opposition to the decision and Germany’s pandemic restrictions.

Germany ended necessities to put on masks in lots of indoor settings final yr, although they’re nonetheless obligatory on long-distance trains, in medical doctors’ practices, hospitals, nursing houses and on some regional public transport.

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