He compared Israel’s vaccination policy to the Holocaust and was on trial for sedition. Sucharit Bhakdi was acquitted. Central Council President Schuster calls the verdict “scandalous”.
The Central Council of Jews in Germany has criticized the acquittal of the physician and author Sucharit Bhakdi on charges of incitement to hatred. The President of the Central Council, Josef Schuster, called the verdict outrageous. “The court legitimizes pure anti-Semitism here.”
By interpreting the term “Jewish people” as supposed criticism of the Israeli government, the court followed the narrative that held every Jew everywhere responsible for the activities of the State of Israel. Hearing this attitude from a German court as a basis for argumentation “is nothing short of scandalous,” lamented Schuster.
He also criticized the fact that the court had seen Bhakdi’s downplaying of the Holocaust without a doubt, but had given priority to freedom of expression in an election campaign speech. “Once again I feel compelled to point out that anti-Semitism is not an opinion,” emphasized Schuster.
Icon of the “lateral thinker” movement
The district court in Plön, Schleswig-Holstein, acquitted Bhakdi, who is considered an icon of the “lateral thinker” movement, on Tuesday of the charge of double sedition. The court ruled that the accused’s speeches during the corona pandemic were not punishable.
The Attorney General’s Office had accused Bhakdi of inciting hatred towards Jews living in Germany in April 2021 in connection with fierce criticism of Israel’s vaccination policy and of maliciously disparaging them as a religious group.
In his reasoning, the judge said that it cannot be completely ruled out that Bhakdi’s statements only meant the Israeli government and not the people. The representative of the Attorney General announced an appeal.
The retired professor of microbiology has repeatedly spread misinformation about the corona virus in his bestselling books on the pandemic, in interviews and speeches according to scientists. The universities in Mainz and Kiel, where he used to work, have distanced themselves from Bhakdi’s statements.
Source: Stern
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