“Case Against Freedom of Opinion”: Journalist Lipp on Persecution in Germany for Materials from Donbass

- Alina, a criminal case is being conducted against you at the initiative of the Lüneburg prosecutor's office.

Your case has been covered by all the major media in Germany and also abroad.

“I’m fine, although I had to evacuate from Donetsk a couple of days ago, where I usually work, so I’m in Crimea now, for several days already.

In Donetsk shelling became very strong.

Here, in Crimea, everything is fine, as always, very beautiful, there are many tourists.

Russia does a lot here, every year a lot changes, it becomes even more beautiful, I don’t even want to leave.

- The Lüneburg prosecutor's office is conducting an investigation against you regarding, as it is written in the indictment that you posted on your Telegram channel, the approval of criminal acts.

Quote from the accusation: "To stir up a psychological climate, also among the population of the Federal Republic of Germany, to cause divisions in society and to destroy social cohesion due to at least distorted and sometimes false ideas."

These are very bad accusations.

Alina, what do you say to this, how do you feel about the accusation?

“I doubt it is right to blame me for my opinion.

I think this clearly violates freedom of expression.

Freedom of expression means that anyone has the right to freely express their opinion, even if they receive incorrect information, for example.

I don't think I have the wrong information, but even if I did, I would or should have had the right to.

This is simply an infringement on freedom of expression, and I consider it illegal.

I don’t know how this case will end, I have a lawyer who defends me, and I can even imagine that the case will reach the European Court, we’ll see.

On the question of disagreements in society.

I think there are people who choose the CDU or the SPD, and they have different approaches, and so far this has been normal.

Why, in the case of the conflict in Ukraine, different opinions are unacceptable?

This is not very clear, but the most tinny in the last sentence of this indictment.

"A preliminary hearing on the accused is not being held as this would jeopardize the purpose of the investigation."

They open a criminal case against me, but they do not want to listen to me, that is, I have no right to defend myself.

Because they would probably hear too much of the truth from me, and that would jeopardize the purpose of the investigation.

- I also found the passage that you are accused of causing discord in society interesting.

This implies that there appears to be unanimity in Germany on the issue of the conflict in Ukraine.

What do you say about this accusation?

Isn't it almost an honor, or rather the task of journalism, to challenge consensus as much as possible?

Of course, that's exactly what I had in mind.

In Germany, only one single opinion has the right to exist on this issue - this is nonsense.

I do interviews with people who ended up there, in cities and villages.

I do interviews with people in Donetsk and just translate them into German.

I just film everything I see around me, I travel around the neighborhood a lot.

And I ask myself what is illegal or dangerous about it, because this is not staged, I still work as a freelance journalist.

There is no one who tells me: you have to do this or that or we want you to include some information in the text.

These are truly authentic materials.

And to get prosecuted for this is complete madness.

• German journalist Alina Lipp told RT DE why a case was brought against her in her homeland

- That is, did I understand correctly that Putin is not your secret customer?

- No, it's not.

Still not (

.).

I have no contracts or arrangements with anyone.

Those who know me know that I am incapable of this, because I have my own head on my shoulders and I do only what I myself want, I show what I think is right.

- Correctiv, a network of investigators, found out that you had 

— No, not at all.

It is true that I met her, but the circumstances were completely different, completely unimportant.

And all this can be checked in open sources, everything is on the Internet.

The story there was this: since 2019 I had a small YouTube channel about Crimea.

At that time, I was a member of the Friends of Crimea group - this is such a small international organization that tried to spread information in their countries about the so-called annexation of Crimea.

Well, the German club was very small, and the leader had problems, and I helped them for some time, performed in their club.

I was invited to big conferences, and there I met a man who ran a Norwegian club.

He is German, Hendrik Weber.

And when we once ended up in Moscow at the same time, he had an appointment with Maria Zakharova, he wanted to get her autograph on his book, he had just published a book about Crimea.

He took me with him to the meeting - and that's the whole story.

It is on the Internet, all the information and photos from the meeting.

Maria signed his book and stuff, I was just there, we just exchanged a couple of polite phrases - that's all.

And now in the German media they made a big deal out of it, that I signed huge contracts there, received an order and all that.

• German journalist Alina Lipp, who worked in Donetsk, was accused in Germany of having links with Moscow

- Under German law, you face up to three years in prison.

The case has already been transferred to the prosecutor's office in Göttingen, where there is a central department that deals with hate crimes.

How do you look at this case now?

Do you believe that you can prove your innocence?

Or do you have some doubts, maybe in connection with the fate of Julian Assange?

- I do not think that Russia will extradite me, firstly, so I am completely calm.

I feel safe here and will continue my work, let them do what they want.

This indictment, from my point of view, is completely illegal, so many lawyers and even judges have told me about this.

Many wrote to me after the publication of these documents, one judge even sued the Lüneburg prosecutor's office.

Everyone is just shocked that I am accused of this, it is obviously against the law.

This case is against freedom of expression, and I didn't violate anything.

- Apparently, as you already wrote in your Telegram channel, is this a political matter, not a legal one?

- Surely, I think this is evident from the fact that RT in Germany was closed, this is also an attack on freedom of expression.

And my channel has now become so big that they are trying to destroy everything that is reported about Russia, from Russia, I think.

— How do you see the Neues aus Russland Telegram channel?

You also write that you want to build a bridge between East and West.

You can be reproached for reflecting the Russian side one-sidedly, but how do you yourself evaluate the coverage of events on your channel?

— I don’t know how to answer here… When you are in Donetsk for six months under shelling by Ukrainian troops from morning to evening.

Then what is written in Germany is very difficult to bear.

Of course, there is solidarity with people who experience it next to you.

Because it is a fact that the Ukrainian army is shelling us there, and Germany does not cover it in the media at all or even spreads fakes that it was Russia.

Therefore, I describe mainly what is happening on the spot, of course, I can be accused of being one-sided.

But I can't be everywhere, I can't even go to Ukraine, because I'll most likely be killed there.

However, I always try to cover what the German media writes, I also publish critical articles if I see something that is not covered even in the Russian media.

If I come across something critical about Russia, then I have no problem

to agree with the German media.

Here's what I can say.

- How do you generally assess the mood of the people who live there (in the liberated territories of Ukraine. - 

)?

- In the Donbass and in the adjacent territories, which are already occupied by Russia, people 100% support Russia and the special operation.

In the liberated territories, which are very close to the Donbass, everyone supports.

The farther away from these places, the fewer people who support what is happening now.

In Mariupol, in most interviews, they told me that “Azov” killed us here, drove us out of our homes, and so on, raped women.

But there was also one woman who was shouting in the street: "Heil Hitler!"

That is, she was anti-Russian.

This suggests that the problem of Nazism really exists in Ukraine.

— But does Donbass really support Russia's special operation for the most part?

Can you confirm this?

— Yes, of course, when I arrive somewhere and say that I am from Germany, people begin to swear and curse Western propaganda endlessly.

They keep saying that it was Azov and Ukraine that treated them very badly for years.

I mean the territories that have been under Ukrainian control for the last eight years.

They treated people very badly, so naturally they now support the latest developments, when Russia entered there.

And I think that it will gradually become Russia, I mean Donbass.

Now there is already a ruble and Russian flags, and people want all this, it's almost the same as it was then in Crimea.

People really want to belong to Russia, under no circumstances - I have asked many times - under no circumstances do people want to live in Ukraine anymore.

— Kremlin spokesman Peskov said recently that Russia will never again be able to trust the West.

And your trust in your homeland has also been undermined?

— No, not to my homeland, but to my government.

I mean that Germany is my Motherland, my country, I am German, Germany is a beautiful country.

But, unfortunately, the current government is very anti-Russian, and I also have a Russian part.

It hurts because it is already acquiring the features of fascism.

— Is your father Russian and your mother German?

- Yes exactly.

Of course, my trust in the government, in the parties, in the deputies, in the rule of law, which issues such indictments, this trust is gone.