This week’s column recounts a case in which two activists aimed to hold a guy who showed the Hitler Salute to them at the site of a demonstration against the genocide in Gaza.
When they reported this hate crime, they entered a Kafkaesque journey through Germany’s judicial system. Eventually they were harassed, fined and imprisoned in a case that illustrates the anti-Palestinian racism within Berlin’s courts. The following is thus based on the testimony of the activists.
At the first hearing, the two activists testified as witnesses. The defendant also called two people as witnesses, yet it became clear that these two could not even testify about the incident since they were not present and instead just attempted to defend his character, insisting he was “not a Nazi.”
The court then showed the video evidence and read his criminal record. The guy had already been convicted 11 times for fraud and was currently on probation. Significantly, the public prosecutor fully supported the witnesses’ version of events, convinced they had testified truthfully and that the Hitler Salute was clearly visible in the video. She requested a 9-month prison sentence without probation. However, after the defendant began crying and begging the judge, the latter disturbingly made an exception and sentenced him to a €7,000 fine instead of prison, despite the clear legal precedent. Nonetheless, the defendant, who normally was liable for a prison sentence after breaking parole, went into revision.
Kübra, one of the activists recounts:
“We thought that the case was closed. About 5-6 months later, we received a new summons. I was on the Gaza Flotilla at the time, so my sister called the court and said that I was not in Germany and could therefore not appear at the hearing. The court wanted to know how long I would be away, and although it was clearly communicated that I would be away for another three weeks, the new court date was only postponed by six days. Both summonses were delivered in person by two police officers. Not by post as is usually the case. The police came to my front door twice.”
Despite her clear communication, the witness was fined 150€ or three days in prison.
On the day of the court, merely the second witness, a Palestinian activist, was summoned. Yet, in an outrageous twist of accuser and accused, she was taken away from her home by the police at 7 a.m. on the morning of the court date and imprisoned until the hearing started, with her cell phone confiscated.
The second, very brief hearing revealed how the system had turned against the activists. The new judge was disrespectful and aggressive to the Palestinian comrade, who called out the absurd fact that she was being criminalized as a witness. The judge then, after intimidating and verbally harassing her, postponed the hearing again, insisting on the second activist’s presence.
The third, final hearing then took place in January. We will detail it in next week’s column.
