18.02.2011, 14:21 25818

German Defence Minister accused of plagiarising PhD thesis

German Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg has been accused of plagiarising part of his PhD thesis, Kazakhstan Today reports.

Almaty. February 18. Kazakhstan Today - German Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg has been accused of plagiarising part of his PhD thesis, Kazakhstan Today reports.

Germany's most popular minister on Wednesday denied he was guilty of plagiarising his doctoral thesis as his former university announced a probe into accusations made in a daily paper, The Telegraph reported.

Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg dismissed claims made in the Sueddeutsche Zeitung that he had copied entire passages without attribution in his law dissertation in 2007, for which he received top marks.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Sueddeutsche cited Andreas Fischer-Lescano, a professor of law, as saying there were enough unattributed passages to speak of "brazen plagiarism".

Felix Hanschmann, another law professor, told AFP after studying the text: "There are a number of authors he has not cited, in parts the plagiarism stretches over more than an entire page."

The University of Bayreuth, where the minister completed his thesis, said it was looking into the allegations.

"We are now examining whether this accusation is justified," said the head of the university's legal department, Markus Moestl.

However, Mr zu Guttenberg's old tutor rode to his rescue, telling the mass circulation daily Bild: "This work was not plagiarised. It was comprehensively checked by me over several tutorial sessions."

Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman told a regular news conference that she was "interested" in the matter but believed it was "prudent to wait for the outcome of the investigation."

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