Jo Leinen
Jo Leinen (born April 6, 1948 in Bisten, Sarre) is a Member of the European Parliament representing Germany. He was elected on the SPD ticket and acts as a representative within the Party of European Socialists group. He is well known for his environmental and foreign affairs activities, as well as for his support for a Federal Europe.
He obtained a law degree in Germany in 1972 and a Certificate of Advanced European Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium, in 1974. Since 1977 he has worked as a lawyer.
Extraparliamentary tasks
Leinen became publicly known as a spokesman of the Anti-nuclear movement and the Peace movement (1980), he was also active for the Bundesverband Bürgerinitiativen Umweltschutz (BBU). He received the nickname "container-Jo" during a demonstration, having climbed a container in order to coordinate protest actions by megaphone.
Because of his participation at a demonstration against the Brokdorf Nuclear Power Plant (1981), he was briefly charged with being "guide and headman" of a rioting 'mob', however the Federal Constitutional Court eventually dropped charges against him, ruling that there can not be a case of "guide and headman" during collective actions. (One of his defenders at the time was Gerhard Schröder, former Chancellor of the BRD.)