Allegations of defamation against singers: Ofarim's lawyer accuses the judiciary of "show trials".

Because he assumed anti-Semitism in the management of a Leipzig hotel, musician Gil Ofarim may soon have to answer in a lawsuit before the Leipzig district court.

Allegations of defamation against singers: Ofarim's lawyer accuses the judiciary of "show trials".

Because he assumed anti-Semitism in the management of a Leipzig hotel, musician Gil Ofarim may soon have to answer in a lawsuit before the Leipzig district court. The accusation: defamation and false suspicion. His lawyer believes the judiciary is biased.

Gil Ofarim's new lawyer fears a "show trial" against the musician. "It cannot be denied that the Leipzig judiciary could seek a show trial here, which cannot be ruled out for political reasons," said Alexander Stevens in Munich, who claims to have taken over the defense of Ofarim with his law firm.

As an indication of this, Stevens cites the fact that the prosecutor charged Ofarim in the state court and not in the district court and justified this with the prominence of the accused. After all, the assault trial against the no less well-known, former national soccer player Jérôme Boateng also took place in the first instance at the Munich district court.

The public prosecutor's office in Leipzig has accused the 40-year-old of defamation and false suspicion. The musician had made allegations of anti-Semitism against a Leipzig hotel in a viral video last October. According to the public prosecutor's office, the incident did not happen that way. According to a spokeswoman, the Leipzig regional court has not yet decided on the admission of the charges against Ofarim. This is expected in the coming days.

Stevens speaks of "massive media prejudice" against his client and questions the independence of the Leipzig judiciary. "Despite the presumption of innocence, which is protected by fundamental rights, the father of the country, Prime Minister Kretschmer, but also ex-Justice Minister Heiko Maas, for example, commented on the matter in advance and thus gave their subordinate judiciary guidelines for a conviction, so to speak."

Even before the indictment was admitted, Stevens and his team said they filed a motion to have the judge responsible for deciding whether to admit the indictment dismissed for bias. The judge had "already frankly stated in a preliminary talk that he himself could hardly imagine the course of events alleged by Mr. Ofarim," said the lawyer, according to the "Bild" newspaper. "As is well known, there is no significant problem with anti-Semitism in Leipzig."