Germany’s left-wing Chancellor has verbally attacked a group of anti-lockdown protesters, accusing them of lying.
Olaf Scholz, Germany’s leftist pro-compulsory vaccination Chancellor, launched a verbal assault on a group of anti-lockdown protesters on Saturday, accusing them of lying about a lack of free speech in Germany.
Scholz’s defence of Germany’s free speech record, such as it is, comes shortly after mass raids were conducted by the country’s police last month against people who had made online posts insulting elected German officials.
According to a report by Der Spiegel, Scholz was speaking at a rally in Essen, North-Rhine Westphalia when the verbal altercation occurred, which saw Scholz respond to anti-lockdown hecklers with accusations that they were spreading lies.
“Hello! Shout out, because this is what we are fighting for and what the citizens of Ukraine are fighting for. That you can say your opinion out loud without having to be afraid,” Scholz is reported as telling the anti-lockdown protesters.
“That’s why I don’t accept the evil cynicism with which some say that you can’t express your opinion on this topic here,” he continued in reference to accusations Germany was suppressing alternative viewpoints. “It’s a lie!”
“Take a look around the dictatorships of this world and you’ll know what that means,” he went on. “Just because you yell loudly doesn’t make you right. But you need a few arguments for that. And one of these arguments is that the corona pandemic is a great threat to all of humanity.”
While Scholz appeared adamant that it was a “lie” to say that anti-lockdown protesters could not express their views on the pandemic in Germany, there is some significant evidence to the contrary.
Since the advent of the pandemic, there have been multiple crackdowns perpetrated by state authorities against those protesting Chinese coronavirus restrictions, with bans on peaceful protests not infrequent during periods of lockdown.
Federal officials have also taken aim at messaging service Telegram for not adhering to German laws regarding political censorship, with the country’s government even at one stage threatening to ban the app — often used to organise anti-lockdown protests.
However, even discounting the various clampdowns on anti-lockdown demos in the country, Germany has recently engaged in actions not often seen in other supposed liberal democracies.
For example, as mentioned above, federal and local police within the country conducted mass raids against the civilian population last month in retaliation for reported instances of politicians being threatened, insulted, or defamed online.
During the so-called “joint day of action”, around 100 people were “searched and questioned” in relation to online posts deemed as potentially criminal, with insulting elected officials in the European Union member-state being considered an offence.
“With the day of action, we are making it clear: Anyone who posts hate messages must expect the police to be at the door afterwards,” said the President of the Federal Criminal Police Office, Holger Münch, regarding the policing operation.