German journalist David Bendels is in danger of ending up in prison and has already been ordered to pay a heavy fine for sharing satirical memes – including that featuring Interior Minister Nancy Faeser “holding up” a sign reading, “I hate freedom of expression.”
Faeser, who is considered by opponents as a pro-censorship official, wasted little time in proving the meme’s point: she filed a criminal complaint against Bendels, who is the editor-in-chief of the Deutschland-Kurier website.
Faeser previously “distinguished” herself by attempting to shut down Compact magazine, which leans right, and is therefore an ideological “enemy” of Germany’s ruling class.
Now, Bendels was accused of “defamation” because of several memes posted on X. A court agreed with Faeser and decided to fine Bendels, while if the prosecution decides to further pursue the case, he could also find himself behind bars.
Bendels reacted by saying that Faeser’s move was yet another attack on the free press and free speech, that the memes were obviously just that – memes, using satire to criticize a government official. The journalist also announced he would fight back in court, and said the judges acted politically, taking the government’s side against the media.
Even though one of the reactions to all this came from X owner Elon Musk, who commented, “This is crazy” – there appears to be a “method to the madness.”
Namely, Deutschland-Kurier is aligned with the opposition conservative AfD party, whose rise in popularity has been accompanied by the government’s explicit or tacit pressure against its members, but also supporters.
And, according to reports, the courts are not as efficient as they have been in Bendels’ case when it comes to violent attacks against AfD politicians, said to be frequent and perpetrated by assailants espousing left-wing views.
One of those attacks targeted Andreas Jurca, a member of the Bavarian State Parliament from the ranks of AfD. And one of the memes Bendels was prosecuted for shows the brutally assaulted Jurca, “surrounded” by President Steinmeier, Germany’s internal spy agency chief Haldenwang, and, Faeser – the former two “wielding” baseball bats obviously photo-edited into their hands, implying their political responsibility.
But Faeser decided to take this literally and sue.
