An AfD-aligned German journalist has been given a seven-month probation sentence after he shared a meme that mocked her country’s government’s ‘hatred’ of free speech.
David Bendels, editor-in-chief of the AfD-affiliated newspaper ‘Deutschland-Kurier’, was handed the sentence by the Bamberg District Court in central Germany on Monday for charges of insult, ‘defamation, and slander against political figures’.
He had shared a doctored photo of Nancy Faeser, the former interior minister, holding a sign that read: ‘I hate freedom of expression.’
The original photo showed Faeser holding a sign reading ‘We remember’ as part of a campaign on the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of National Socialism.
This was posted after UNESCO and the World Jewish Congress had called for images of high-profile people holding signs with the hashtag #WeRemember to be posted online.
Bendels claimed the meme, posted by his newspaper’s X account, was satirical.
But the judge in the case said during the verdict that Bendels published a ‘deliberately untrue and contemptuous statement about Interior Minister Ms. Faeser (…) that would not be recognizable to the unbiased reader and is likely to significantly impair her public work’.
On top of the probationary sentence, he was ordered to pay his daily income 210 times in recompense.
David Bendels (pictured), editor-in-chief of the AfD-affiliated newspaper ‘Deutschland-Kurier’, was handed the sentence by the Bamberg District Court in central Germany on Monday
He had shared a doctored photo of Nancy Faeser, the former interior minister, holding a sign that read: ‘I hate freedom of expression’
Bendels was also told by the court to send Faeser a written apology for posting the meme.
The editor said he would be fighting the ruling: ‘We will not accept this ruling and will defend ourselves against it with all legal means at our disposal.’
He also claimed it was the first time since the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany that a journalist has been threatened with prison time over defaming a politician.
Germany’s political class has been up in arms over the ruling.
Björn Höcke, the leader of AfD in Thuringia, said: ‘German politicians, responsible for the deindustrialization of our country and tearing its citizens apart from each other made Germany a laughingstock of the world.
‘They armor themselves and attack freedom of speech again and again, ending our constitutional democracy. We have been warned by Donald Trump and Elon Musk: The enemies of freedom are found within the EU-governments!’
Alan Posener, a British-German journalist who was Executive of the Communist Students Association and the Maoist Communist Party, wrote in a column: ‘Repurposing this photo in this way is tasteless and provocative. Accusing the interior minister of a democratic state of hating freedom of expression is stupid and mean.
The original photo showed Faeser holding a sign reading ‘We remember’ as part of a campaign on the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of National Socialism
Green Party politician Ricarda Lang (pictured, right) stood in solidarity with the editor
‘But punishable? Fortunately, neither bad taste nor stupidity, meanness nor provocation are punishable. Whether you like it or not, they have always been part of the political game.’
Even a Green Party politician, Ricarda Lang, stood in solidarity with him.
She wrote on X: ‘Sorry, but a ruling like this no longer has anything to do with proportionality.’
