Stefan Niehoff, 64, whose home was raided last November after he reposted an “insulting” meme on X, has been found guilty on “speech crime” charges and fined €825.
As previously reported by Brussels Signal, the original charge was that Niehoff, a former sergeant in the Bundeswehr, German armed forces, had “insulted” then-German economics minister Robert Habeck. That was by reposting a meme suggesting Habeck was a “professional moron”. The charge was quietly dropped earlier this year.
New charges were filed against Niehoff, though, for so-called “incitement to racial hatred” (volksverhetzung) and the use of “anti-Constitutional” – ie Nazi – symbols. These charges also related to content posted or reposted on Niehoff’s X account.
On June 18, the court in Haßfurt found him guilty, although as reported by the German media outlet Nius, the “incitement” charge was dropped at the start of proceedings. One charge of using Nazi symbols was likewise dropped. Presiding judge Patrick Keller found Niehoff guilty on four remaining charges of having used such symbols.
It appeared, though, that Niehoff’s postings always involved critical use of such symbols or, for the most part in fact, of historical photos showing others using them.
For example, as Niehoff’s lawyer Marcus Pretzell told the German daily Die Welt in April, Niehoff reacted to calls by the German Catholic Church to boycott the reputedly “far right” Alternative for Germany (AfD) party by reposting a historical photo showing Catholic clergy raising their arms in the Nazi salute.
Another of the reposted photos was reported to show a Catholic clergyman shaking hands with Hitler with, in the background, “men in Wehrmacht uniforms” giving the Nazi salute.
The dropped “incitement” charge referred to a post that quoted a Nazi concentration camp doctor who was supposed to have compared Jews to an appendix that needed to be removed from “the body of the nation”.
But, as in the case of the Nazi-era images, the comment was used critically. The post juxtaposed it, namely, to remarkably similar ones a German television personality had made about people who refused Covid-19 vaccines.
As Nius reported, Judge Keller appeared to have conceded that Niehoff’s use of the Nazi-era images was critical, noting, somewhat apologetically: “We are not the ones who make the laws. It must be clear to you that we do not always agree with laws either.”
But Keller insisted that the decisive point “is whether the critical use is recognisable straightaway” and he concluded that it was not in Niehoff’s posts.
Brussels Signal requested comment from Niehoff’s lawyer, Marcus Pretzell but had not received a response at the time of writing.
