Jail for opinion in Germany? - The “Shlomo Finkelstein” case
The right-wing YouTuber "Die vulgäre Analyse", better known under the stage name "Shlomo Finkelstein" , began a one-year prison sentence for incitement on Sunday. He was sentenced on December 11, 2020 by the Cologne District Court, initially on probation, but the suspension of the prison sentence has now been revoked, as Apollo News first reported. The verdict, which is now publicly available, lists a total of ten cases in which "Shlomo" is accused of multiple incitement.
The majority of the cases for which the right-wing YouTuber was convicted in 2020 involve "insulting religious denominations and communities". A total of eight times he is said to have committed an offence by "showing a Koran being burned on a grill". "Scenes in which pork is shown on a burning Koran" and video clips showing how "a burning Koran is extinguished with a liquid - which is supposed to represent urine" were also the main reasons for the conviction for the court.
The judiciary argued at the time that "Shlomo's" goal in these actions was to "insult, degrade and mock the religion of Islam and the religious beliefs of Muslim people and thereby insult, degrade and mock all users". He also accepted the risk of "inciting all users who were able to view the video to also adopt a hostile attitude towards the religion of Islam and the religious beliefs of Muslim people".
A bat becomes a problem
The court also objected to “Shlomo’s” changing profile pictures. He is said to have been guilty of incitement to hatred six times because he displayed an abstract cartoon caricature of the English philosopher Samuel Johnson, which depicted him as a hybrid of man and bat - with a hooked nose, Jewish sidelocks, a top hat with a Star of David and sharp teeth.
The district court concluded that “it was obvious to a viewer of the video that the said cross between a bat and a human was meant to represent a Jewish person.”
The court also objected to “Shlomo’s” changing profile pictures. He is said to have been guilty of incitement to hatred six times because he displayed an abstract cartoon caricature of the English philosopher Samuel Johnson, which depicted him as a hybrid of man and bat - with a hooked nose, Jewish sidelocks, a top hat with a Star of David and sharp teeth.
The district court concluded that “it was obvious to a viewer of the video that the said cross between a bat and a human was meant to represent a Jewish person.”
“Shlomo” has been in solidarity with Israel for years
In another video, the comic image is said to have been "distorted by a large hooked nose, red glowing eyes and rat teeth and mounted on a rat's body." "Shlomo's" aim was to "degrade people of Jewish faith living in Germany not as equal human beings, but as despicable, inferior and equal to animals."
The satirical context was not clear. The court did not accept the fact that "Shlomo" was given his nickname by right-wing critics because of his open solidarity with Israel and then adapted it in a self-ironic way.
His streaming partner "KasperKast", with whom he has hosted the YouTube show "Honigwabe" every Sunday for several years, announced news about the case within the next few days. According to Apollo News, the public prosecutor's office does not want to say why the probation was revoked or which conditions he is said to have violated.
In another video, the comic image is said to have been "distorted by a large hooked nose, red glowing eyes and rat teeth and mounted on a rat's body." "Shlomo's" aim was to "degrade people of Jewish faith living in Germany not as equal human beings, but as despicable, inferior and equal to animals."
The satirical context was not clear. The court did not accept the fact that "Shlomo" was given his nickname by right-wing critics because of his open solidarity with Israel and then adapted it in a self-ironic way.
His streaming partner "KasperKast", with whom he has hosted the YouTube show "Honigwabe" every Sunday for several years, announced news about the case within the next few days. According to Apollo News, the public prosecutor's office does not want to say why the probation was revoked or which conditions he is said to have violated.
Source: Junge Freiheit
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