Judgement of a German court: Protesting by ringing cowbells against the call of the muezzin is not incitement of the people

Every Friday, Marcel Bauersfeld stood in front of the mosque in Herford (Germany, photo above): “Armed” with a cowbell, a pot and a wooden spoon, he protested against the muezzin when he called for prayer. The troublemaker was accused of incitement of the people.

Since 2020, Bauersfeld (40) has regularly started his “culture war in miniature”, as the newspaper “Die Welt” called it. On Fridays, when the muezzin of the DITIB mosque called for prayers in the East Westphalian city of Herford, he positioned himself across the street on Bielefelder Straße and got going. With a cowbell or a pot with a wooden spoon, he tried to drown out the calls for Friday prayers: “I am neither right-wing nor left-wing extremist, but the muezzin simply disturbs me. It doesn’t belong here,” says Bauersfeld.

The local SPD mayor saw things differently. He had approved the muezzin calls and finally called the authorities on Bauersfeld. The protester was arrested, the judiciary investigated for incitement of the people, disturbance of the practice of religion and resistance against law enforcement officers. The public prosecutor’s office charged him.

The proceedings took ages. A prison sentence of up to three years or a heavy fine was possible. The court even had two expert opinions clarify whether the call of the muezzin was an existential part of the practice of religion.

When even the Islamic scholars disagreed, the district judge passed a Solomonic sentence, which Bauersfeld celebrated as a victory. The charges of incitement of the people and disturbance of the practice of religion were dropped due to insignificance, and the resistance to state authority was declared settled in return for a fine of 360 euros in favour of a charitable institution.

https://exxpress.at/mit-kuhglocken-gegen-muezzin-sieg-vor-gericht/

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