Bavaria's government wants five years imprisonment for "hate and harassment"

MUNICH. The Bavarian government wants to punish "hate and harassment" on the Internet in the future with up to five years in prison. "Insults are in the anonymity of the Internet often uninhibited, have a greater range and are virtually impossible to get out of the world," said Justice Minister Georg Eisenreich (CSU) his draft for a corresponding federal law against the news agency dpa. One must "adapt the criminal law to this development".

In the case of insults, there should accordingly be a maximum sentence of two years instead of one year, for slandering three are planned instead of one year so far. For slander the Munich CSU politician thinks that it is appropriate a maximum of five instead of two years in prison.

Persecution even without a criminal complaint
"Our constitutional state must defend itself against the increasing spread of hate and harassment with all determination," demanded Eisenreich. Those who want to effectively combat extremism must "start with the words".

Eisenreich goes beyond the initiative of Federal Minister of Justice Christine Lambrecht (SPD), who actively supports the fight against "hate speech". Eisenreich emphasized: "I do not want to adjust the criminal law only in the fight against hate speech. Also, as far as cyberbullying and hate speech are concerned against persons who are in public life, the criminal law must be sharpened."

Increasingly, minorities, political dissidents and politicians "become the target of hatred and harassment," Eisenreich said. "This leads to an unacceptable poisoning of the social and political climate in our country." According to the Bavarian proposal, racist, xenophobic, anti-Semitic or inhuman insults are to be prosecuted in the future without a criminal complaint. "The prosecutor must have the right to prosecute without a criminal complaint, as long as the victim does not contradict," the minister demanded.

Source:
Junge Freiheit