“Moron”
After Habeck’s insult: expert calls for search “highly problematic”
A 64-year-old man from Bavaria had his house searched after he identified Robert Habeck on the Internet “Moron” had designated. What’s behind it?
The process is mysterious. A man from Bavaria had his house searched a few days ago. The 64-year-old was on the short message service some time ago “X” posted a photo of Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck, which was a modification of an advertising slogan from the Schwarzkopf company with the addition “Moron Professional” was provided.
But was that the reason for the house search?
The internet portal “Nius”which was one of the first to report on the case, has published a decision from the Bamberg district court that suggests a connection to the posting. It states that the house search was part of a… “Investigations into sedition” been ordered. However, the search is not based on suspicion of incitement – but rather on the fact that the accused uploaded the Habeck image file to Twitter on June 20th “To generally defame Robert Habeck and make his work as a member of the federal government more difficult”. But this is “punishable as an insult directed against people in political life”.
Robert Habeck filed the criminal complaint
The investigation was triggered by a criminal complaint from Robert Habeck. He was apparently also surprised by the house search. Those close to him say that his Bundestag office was informed by the Bavarian police about the offensive post and its sender, and was asked whether he would like to file a criminal complaint.
The case was then presented to Habeck as part of the collected events, which involved threats and serious insults, and a criminal complaint was filed. Everything else is a matter for the law enforcement authorities and the courts. Beyond the criminal complaint, Robert Habeck was neither informed nor involved in any other way.
Doubts about proportionality
Now is the term “Moron” undoubtedly an insult that can also lead to a fine. But does it also justify a house search? According to the Code of Criminal Procedure, three conditions must be met for this to happen: In addition to initial suspicion and the expectation that the search will uncover relevant evidence, it must be proportionate.
Criminal law expert calls process “highly problematic”
Holm Putzke, criminal law professor at the University of Passau and criminal defense attorney, doubts whether that was the case in this case. “We have been seeing this for a long time now that a search is carried out because of an insult. There are now an inflated number of lawsuits that stem from politicians reporting someone for insulting them”he told the star: “I consider such measures to be problematic simply because of possible insults.”
After all, the protection of housing and freedom of expression are guaranteed by the Basic Law. Whether the measure is justified depends both on proportionality and primarily on the question of whether the behavior is even punishable: “That seems more than doubtful to me.” Loud “Nius” The accused only reposted the Habeck picture and did not create it himself.
He considers the search “highly problematic”says criminal law expert Putzke: “Because often not much comes out of such proceedings and the Federal Constitutional Court has often received corresponding convictions, citing the strong fundamental right of freedom of expression.”
Another question, according to Putzke, is whether there is also criminal liability for incitement to hatred.
Several posts with NS comparisons
The Bamberg public prosecutor’s office believes this is the case. In a press release on Friday, she initially confirmed Habeck’s criminal complaint and the subsequent house search. Then it goes on to say: “There is still initial suspicion of incitement.” What is specifically mentioned is an image file that the 64-year-old uploaded in spring 2024. According to the public prosecutor’s office, there was an SA man on it with the poster and the inscription “Germans don’t buy from Jews” as well as the additional text “True Democrats! We’ve had it all before!” have been seen. The trigger for this post was apparently a call for a boycott against Müllermilch products after the owner of the dairy company, Theo Müller, met with AfD leader Alice Weidel. The post is no longer available.
The public prosecutor’s office also mentions that the apartment search “in connection with a nationwide day of action against anti-Semitic hate crime on the Internet” took place.
Prosecutors don’t want to answer
A request from starThe public prosecutor did not want to answer whether only the Habeck post or other events, such as possibly anti-Semitic tweets, had triggered the house search.
It is striking that the accused, Stefan N., has published several posts in which he compared current events with events from the Nazi era. He once posted a picture of Adolf Hitler under a pro-Habeck tweet. Of course, this does not constitute the offense of incitement to hatred. He now has the addition to his Twitter profile “Meanwhile on the road as a ‘people agitator'” provided.
Apparently N. is a retired detective. However, the Association of Criminal Investigators is not aware of the process, according to a request from the star resulted.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
