The German parliament imposed a new fine of 3.44 million marks (£1.3 million) on the opposition Christian Democrats (CDU) yesterday for illegal party donations accepted under the leadership of the former chancellor, Mr Helmut Kohl.
The parliamentary speaker, Mr Wolfgang Thierse, a member of the ruling Social Democrats and a former East German dissident, had already imposed a record 41 million marks in fines in February for violations of funding laws during Mr Kohl's 16-year rule.
Mr Thierse told a news conference the new fine related to large donations the party had failed to declare including money accepted from an arms industry lobbyist, Mr Karlheinz Schreiber.
The fines relate to roughly 2.1 million marks that Mr Kohl had admitted accepting from anonymous donors but failed to declare, and one million marks that Mr Schreiber, a German-Canadian arms dealer and go-between, passed to then CDU treasurer, Mr Walther Leisler Kiep, in 1991 allegedly in connection with the sale of German armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia.
The fines also relate to 600,000 marks that the parliamentary CDU groups passed to the national CDU and to another donation from Mr Schreiber in 1994, when he gave 100,000 marks to then CDU parliamentry leader, Mr Wolfgang Schauble, or to the then treasurer, Ms Brigitte Baumeister.
"The Christian Democrats will examine the speaker's decision to impose further sanctions of 3.4 million marks on the party and will decide soon if we will fight the decision," the CDU general secretary, Mr Laurenz Meyer said in a statement.
The party is contesting the 41 million mark penalty but Mr Thierse said it had already paid a separate 4.35 million mark fine imposed this summer relating specifically to an admission by Mr Kohl that he accepted about $1 million in illegal funds.
Mr Kohl, who was hit in the face with a cream cake on Thursday as he signed copies of his memoirs in a Berlin bookshop, has collected millions of marks to help pay the fines.