 On 7 November 1989 resigned.In January 1990 Gerhard Schürer was excluded from the ruling SED (party), which by this time was in the process of reinventing itself for a democratic future as the Party of Democratic Socialism (" Partei des Demokratischen Sozialismus" / PDS).Accused of "Criminal abuse of trust" (""verbrecherischen Vertrauensmißbrauchs"") he was arrested on 22 January 1990 and sent to spend the next three months in prison.