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Akif Pirinçci (right) in December 2023: His lawyer Mustafa Kaplan (left) has already filed an appeal against the verdict
Photo: Federico Gambarini / dpa
Trouble with the judiciary again: The writer Akif Pirinçci has been sentenced to nine months in prison without parole for sedition. The 64-year-old had expressed hostility towards immigrants in a blog entry - and has now been found guilty of incitement by the Bonn district court.
Pirinçci's lawyer Mustafa Kaplan told the German Press Agency that he had already filed an appeal against the verdict, which was not yet legally binding. Pirinçci himself maintains that the statements are covered by the right to freedom of expression.
This is not the writer's first conviction for sedition. Most recently, Pirinçci was sentenced to pay money by the Frankfurt am Main regional court because he attacked the climate activist Luisa Neubauer with a sexist, demeaning comment on Facebook. Because he didn't pay, the climate activist's lawyers obtained the money through foreclosure.
Akif Pirinçci, born in Istanbul in 1959, moved to Germany with his family in 1969 and grew up in the Eifel. From 1989 onwards he became known for crime films in which cats played the main roles. The novels sold millions of copies, were translated into many languages and made into films.
In the past ten years, Pirinçci has attracted particular attention with right-wing populist and Islamophobic statements. In 2014 he published his first non-fiction book with the title: “Germany of the Senses: The Crazy Cult of Women, Homosexuals and Immigrants”. In 2014 and 2015 he appeared several times at Pegida movement events and, among other things, caused horror with a reference to concentration camps.
spr/dpa