Posted on 02/20/2025 7:58:58 AM PST by george76
Markus Roscher, a German lawyer, was fined €3,000 under a controversial speech law for criticizing government officials on X, highlighting growing concerns over free expression and political dissent in Germany..
The debate over free speech in Germany has taken a new turn following the case of Markus Roscher, a 61-year-old lawyer from Braunschweig, who was fined €3,000 for criticizing the government’s heating law.
Roscher described Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck, Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock as “malicious failures” in a post on X back in 2021. He was subsequently issued a penalty notice under the controversial Paragraph 188 of the German Criminal Code, which criminalized defamation against individuals engaged in public political life.
Roscher, who has been active on X for over 14 years and is well accustomed to the legal boundaries surrounding political debate, insists that his post was within the bounds of political criticism.
“I actually know myself to be quite well within the red lines,” he told Bild. “You have to formulate things pointedly to be heard. The lines of freedom of opinion have slipped with the red-green government (ed. the coalition of Social Democrats and Greens).” He further described his hefty fine as a “scandal for freedom of expression.”
Paragraph 188, introduced in April 2021, criminalizes insults against politicians if they significantly hinder their public work. It was initially passed under a coalition government of the CDU and SPD but has been increasingly enforced under the current administration. The law has led to numerous prosecutions against individuals who have criticized government officials online.
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In Roscher’s case, the penalty order claimed that his statements portrayed politicians as “corrupt, stupid, and arrogant,” constituting “abusive criticism” that allegedly impeded their political activity. Following the charge, authorities also moved to revoke his gun license, citing “unreliability.”
Furthermore, his case was forwarded to the Kassel and Braunschweig Bar Associations, raising concerns that he could face professional sanctions. “If I now claim the same or something similar and get another conviction exceeding 90 daily rates, I can lose my license,” Roscher warned. “Then you get a job ban as a 61-year-old lawyer!”
Roscher believes that his support for the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) has played a pivotal role in his prosecution. He asserts that the penalty order was politically motivated, arguing that he stood little chance in a legal battle, which led him to pay the fine without challenging it in the courts.
The scrutiny of political affiliations within Germany’s public sector was also highlighted by a leaked memo last month revealing that federal police officers who join or actively support the AfD could face disciplinary action, including dismissal. The memo cited a decree by Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, explicitly stating that officers suspected of affiliation with the party could see their employment terminated.
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The controversy has drawn international attention from U.S. billionaire Elon Musk and most recently from U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who labeled Germany’s online speech laws this week as “Orwellian.” Responding to a CBS “60 Minutes” interview with German prosecutors, Vance argued that Germany was effectively “criminalizing speech” and urged Europeans to “reject this lunacy.”
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Roscher’s case is part of a broader pattern of speech-related prosecutions in Germany. Other recent incidents include a Lower Saxony man, Daniel Kindl, who was fined €1,800 for allegedly insulting Green Party MP Janosch Dahmen in an online post. Kindl’s remark, which dismissed Dahmen’s concerns about an alleged attack on Robert Habeck, was deemed criminal by prosecutors.
Several other individuals have faced legal consequences for online speech. A pensioner was fined €800 for a satirical comment about Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, joking that she had hit her head too many times on a trampoline. Another was arrested for retweeting a meme that called Economy Minister Robert Habeck an “idiot,” classified as a “politically motivated right-wing crime.” A Bavarian woman was fined €6,000 for calling Baerbock a “hollow brat” but was later acquitted after a lengthy legal process. Additionally, a civil engineer was sentenced to 30 days in jail after failing to appeal a fine for calling SPD politician Manuela Schwesig a “storyteller.”
Guess the Nazis are back.
What’s next making them see little yellow badges on their clothes?
F Europe
>> AfD-supporting lawyer fined €3,000 for criticizing German government
will only help AfD
voters must turn out for AfD in huge numbers — make it too big too rig
Our dear NATO allies, united in fascsim
Trump should turn up the heat on them.
The 2025-version of the Brussels euro-fascists are also very spineless. They will be overthrown soon if they attempt to turn up the pressure on society.
Well, Freedom of speech DID cause the Holocaust, after all....
</snark>
Who is behind this censorship?
What is the global strategy?
Who is getting enriched?
I think the EU should adopt the US Constitution.
Why are we paying the lions share of nato’s budget? Why does nato even still exist? the reason for alliance was to combat communist expansion from the ussr, which collapsed in early 90’s. Let the euros sort out their own business.
I hereby confirm that I also am “criticizing the government’s heating law,” and “described Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck, Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock as “malicious failures”
The fascist roots of Progressives runs deep.
Springtime for Germany
Deutschland is marching to a faster pace.
> a civil engineer was sentenced to 30 days in jail after failing to appeal a fine for calling SPD politician Manuela Schwesig a “storyteller.” <
Wow. It’s one thing to be arrested for openly advocating violence. But jail time for calling a politician a “storyteller”?
The Nazis are back. But this time without the fancy uniforms.
From Braunschweig- he’s a Braunschweiger.
The US should withdraw from Europe.
We oughtn’t pay to defend censorious socialist islamophiles against a Russia that can’t conquer Ukraine in 3 years.
Bring our troops home, and save the money.
I think I’ll throw my hat into the ring, too.
I heard that Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck, Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock are all drug addicts. They snort ground up Snickers Bars.
Plus they kick small animals when no one is looking.
Plus they refuse to recycle.
That should be enough to put me on the Stasi wanted list.
He’s ‘liverwurst’ (like JFK was a ‘donut’) ...
What makes Germany any better than Russia?
They sure do a good job of hiding it.
When it goes from Islamophobia to islamophilia it’s over.
Don’t spend another dime over there.
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