The election posters "Hang the Greens" caused a stir before the federal elections in September 2021. Many saw it as a call to execution. Now there were two men from the right-wing extremist party The III. way legal consequences.
Munich (dpa / lby) - In the process of posters of the right-wing extremist splinter party Der III. Away with the slogan "Hang the Greens", the district court in Munich has sentenced a 42-year-old to six months in prison. A 65-year-old was fined. The judge found the two guilty of incitement to hatred and incitement to manslaughter. The posters appeared in September 2021 during the federal election campaign in Munich and in Roding and Cham in the Upper Palatinate, one within sight of the city office of the Munich Greens. The police then took down the posters.
The judge said in his verdict that the view that such a slogan could be uttered without making oneself liable to incitement to hatred and the incitement to commit crimes is simply absurd. The addressee of this saying could be seen as no one other than the Bündnis 90/Die Grünen party.
The court largely followed the prosecutor's office, but did not suspend the 42-year-old's prison sentence. The defense attorneys had each demanded acquittals for their clients and justified this, among other things, with the lack of evidence of their involvement. In addition, one cannot necessarily conclude that the saying refers to the party of Bündnis 90/Die Grünen. The defendants remained silent on the allegations. The 42-year-old's lawyer announced after the verdict that he would appeal.
The judge also justified the decision with the functions of the two in the party. The 65-year-old was the chairman. It is absolutely unthinkable that such a small party with a manageable circle of members and activists could run an election campaign without the knowledge and approval of its leader. He was also responsible in terms of press law. In addition, an uncontrollable circle of people could have felt incited by the spell.
According to the court, the 42-year-old headed the Munich and Upper Bavaria base at the time. On photos you could clearly see him hanging up two posters. The judge justified the imposition of a prison sentence, among other things, with the relevant criminal record of the neo-Nazi, who is well-known in the scene.
Witnesses had previously reported how they perceived the posters. That is no longer freedom of expression, said a member of the Greens. He discovered one of the posters in Munich in September 2021 and alerted the police. The saying affected him. "It's almost a call to commit a crime." The chairman of the Munich Greens, Joel Keilhauer, was made aware of the posters by party members. They would have felt threatened by the slogan. Andrea Leitermann, chairwoman of the Greens in the district of Cham, and Martina Loeffelmann from the Cham district council were shocked and angry.
Posters with the slogan had also caused a stir in Saxony. After an urgent decision by the administrative court in Chemnitz, they were initially allowed to get stuck in Zwickau. After a complaint from the city, they had to be removed after a decision by the Saxon Higher Administrative Court.
