PressSplit
In the age of the Internet, sedition crimes have become a regular occurrence at the Weilheim District Court. However, the most recent case stands out: mocked in a Facebook photo, numerous federal ministers filed criminal charges against the 50-year-old defendant.
The 50-year-old woman from Eglfinger claimed that her depression was the reason she had shared numerous Facebook posts with racist and hate-mongering content on her profile last year. “I was not rationally able to understand what I was doing,” the defendant explained, complaining of memory lapses. According to the police, she posted dozens of questionable posts within a few minutes.
Being under “high tension,” she posted practically everything that appeared on her cell phone screen: a “valve” with which she could temporarily release pressure from the psychological “boiler,” she argued. However, the defendant distanced herself from the political right: “I am not right-wing!”
But which posts were actually the 50-year-old’s undoing? It started with a picture with a racist message: it bore a text that questioned the desire of the “people from the Orient” to integrate and described asylum seekers from Arab states – for whom “rape and murder are a matter of course” – as “fanatical primates” full of “medieval bad habits”. The xenophobic message ended with the words: “Put your magic lamps under your arms and fly back over the Bosporus”.
The second posting shows almost a dozen federal ministers, arranged like the cover of the classic film “The Godfather”. The image is accompanied by a text that accuses the politicians shown of wanting to “destabilize” the Federal Republic and “drag it to ruin.” A large number of the politicians affected, including Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Finance Minister Christian Lindner, filed criminal charges as a result.
Racist and hate-mongering Facebook posts
When she had once again posted a series of questionable posts – only two of them were ultimately charged – she was even contacted by Facebook itself and informed that some of her pictures had been removed. “Didn’t that make you sit up and take notice?” asked the judge, astonished.
The 50-year-old certainly failed to convince everyone in the courtroom by claiming that the pictures had absolutely nothing to do with her political views. “I am not that person,” she tried to clarify, describing herself as “peace-loving” and stressing that she had apologized in writing to all politicians. Some had even replied to her.
“She used the wrong outlet – and that will have consequences,” the prosecutor made clear, despite all the understanding he had for the defendant’s depression. “I have nothing to do with politics – give me another chance!” pleaded the Eglfinger woman – already suspecting that she was facing a hefty fine. But the prosecutor stuck to his view of things and demanded a fine totaling 6,000 euros.
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“What is freedom of expression, what is punishable?” the defense attorney then sparked a lively discussion. “Hate and incitement have been permitted on the Internet for years. But when members of the government are attacked, they hit back with the same club,” he said, diagnosing the Eglfinger woman as having diminished responsibility. “Millions of times hate is preached on the Internet and not prosecuted. The ratings are wrong!” the lawyer complained. “The incitement is not directed against politicians, but against other people,” the prosecutor replied, referring to the defamatory text.
“Sometimes you shake your head at what else could be considered an expression of opinion,” said Judge Isabelle von Heydebrand, and made it clear: “This is not the case here.” Unlike the public prosecutor, however, she assumed that the defendant was not criminally responsible. The woman from Eglfinger now only has to pay 2,550 euros. “I think you have learned a lot from the proceedings,” the judge summed up at the end of the hearing.
