Xavier Naidoo is apparently facing charges of alleged incitement in his hometown of Mannheim.
The Mannheim public prosecutor’s office has announced that it has filed charges “against a 52-year-old musician from Mannheim” on the allegation of incitement. The name of the accused is not mentioned in the statement, but his lawyers have since confirmed that the accused is Xavier Naidoo.
The allegations are serious: “He is accused of having published Holocaust-denying and anti-Semitic content via a Telegram channel in March 2021 by linking a video and an image file with text.” Around a year ago, “charges were also brought against him at the Mannheim Regional Court for incitement in four cases, in one case in conjunction with insult.” Both criminal proceedings are now to be combined – the Regional Court must now decide on this before the main proceedings can begin.
How does the other side react?
“Spiegel” quotes a statement from the musician’s legal counsel: “The accusations of incitement and Holocaust denial made by the public prosecutor are false and are expressly denied. There are not only considerable legal objections to the accusations, but above all there are very significant objections in factual terms. These prove the innocence of our client.”
The Mannheim public prosecutor’s office’s statement also stresses: “The presumption of innocence applies. The allegations are denied.”
Apology via YouTube video
The fact is that in recent years, Naidoo has attracted attention less for his music than for conspiracy theories, including in relation to the corona pandemic. In April 2022, he spoke out on this, apologized and, among other things, stated that he had “ultimately lost his way” in the search for the truth: “I opened myself up to theories, viewpoints and sometimes even groups from which I distance myself and dissociate myself without any ifs and buts. I was blinded by conspiracy theories and did not question them enough.” In doing so, he “moved away from reality”.
He realized “that I have irritated and provoked my family, my friends, my fans, people who defended me, but also many other people with disturbing statements. For which I would like to apologize.”
Source: Stern
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