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Josef Schuster (2021): »Once again, I feel compelled to point out that anti-Semitism is not an opinion«

Photo: Nicolas Armer / picture alliance/dpa

The Central Council of Jews in Germany is angry about the acquittal of the physician and author Sucharit Bhakdi from the accusation of incitement to hatred. The president of the Central Council, Josef Schuster, called the verdict outrageous and said: "The court legitimizes pure anti-Semitism here."

By interpreting the term "people of the Jews" as a supposed criticism of the Israeli government, the court follows the narrative that makes every Jew everywhere responsible for the activities of the State of Israel. To hear this attitude from a German court as a basis for argument "is nothing short of scandalous," Schuster said.

He also criticized the fact that the court had seen Bhakdi's trivialization of the Holocaust beyond doubt, but had placed freedom of expression higher in a campaign speech. "Once again, I feel compelled to point out that anti-Semitism is not an opinion."

Speaking during the Corona pandemic is not punishable by law

The district court in Plön, Schleswig-Holstein, had acquitted Bhakdi, who is considered an icon of the "lateral thinker" movement, on Tuesday of the charge of double incitement to hatred. The court ruled that the defendant's speeches during the Corona pandemic were not punishable.

In April 2021, the Attorney General's Office had accused Bhakdi of inciting hatred against Jews living in Germany in connection with fierce criticism of Israel's vaccination policy and maliciously disparaging them as a religious group.

The judge had said in his reasoning that it could not be completely ruled out that Bhakdi meant only the Israeli government and not the people with his statements. The representative of the Prosecutor General's Office announced an appeal.

Bhakdi, a microbiologist, spread Corona misinformation several times in his bestselling books on the pandemic, in interviews and speeches according to the evaluation of scientists. The universities in Mainz and Kiel, where he used to work, have distanced themselves from Bhakdi's statements.

bbr/dpa