“The figures presented by the newspaper “Bild” today are unmistakable: The problem of violent crimes committed by “‘immigrants'” is not an invention of evil right-wing radicals, but brutal reality. If politics continues to persistently turn a blind eye, it will destroy the trust of the middle classes.”
This was tweeted by the former chairman of the Liberal Democrats (FDP) in the state parliament, Gerhard Papke (60), referring to a BILD article – and he was subsequently blocked from Twitter.
The Twitter justification: “Violation of our rules on hate-fuelling behaviour.” What exactly about the article is supposed to incite hatred is completely unclear!
Papke does not want to put up with this, he is taking action against the ban. Of course, hatred and denigration must be fought everywhere – also on the internet, says Papke.
“But it can’t be that unpleasant truths are suppressed just because some don’t want to hear them.”
His lawyer had set Twitter a deadline to unblock the account.
Papke added: “This is not about me, but about freedom of expression in Germany. If you are no longer allowed to quote important research by the BILD newspaper, we are clearly on a dangerous wrong track.
The article Papke referred to in his tweet is about current police statistics that show how large the share of “non-German” suspects and perpetrators is in violent crime, murder, manslaughter, rape and sexual assault. In his tweet, Papke called these figures a “brutal reality” and warned politicians to no longer turn a blind eye.
Twitter has not yet commented on BILD’s request.