Is the justice system applying double standards to online hate speech?
The ‘moron’ affair is causing headlines. The government has been criticised for a few days now because it has come to light how often citizens have to deal with the state authorities over trivialities. In contrast, the public prosecutor’s office seems to show conspicuous leniency when it comes to online offences committed by migrants.
While a retweet of an internet picture depicting Robert Habeck as a ‘moron professional’ can lead to the police turning up at the front door at dawn, a Syrian will probably get off scot-free despite justifying the Holocaust and violently insulting a woman, threatening to rape her and putting her in fear. This all happened on the Facebook page of the Israeli embassy.
What exactly happened? Shortly after the Hamas massacre on October 7, 2023, a Syrian welcomed and glorified the Holocaust on the Israeli embassy’s website: he wrote: ‘Nero also killed millions and burned entire Rome. Why should it be sad to burn 6 million Jews?’
He also threatened one woman, Lisa A. (name changed), with a bestial rape threat: ‘I didn’t realise how sick and disgusting you are until I looked you up on Facebook. Too bad I don’t know your address, otherwise I would come to you with my horse. My horse would train you well with his cock, which your cursed parents couldn’t do. Fuck you bitch.’ He added: ‘bitch’.
What happened next? The victim of these offences, Lisa A., made every effort to ensure that something happened: First, Lisa A. informed the Hesse report centre against hate speech and filed a criminal complaint with the Saxony-Anhalt online watchdog. An investigation was then initiated, as the public prosecutor’s office in Frankfurt considered the vile comments to be worthy of prosecution. It passed the matter on to the public prosecutor’s office in Halle, where the alleged perpetrator lives. From there, it was forwarded to the State Criminal Police Office in Berlin so that Lisa A. could be questioned on the matter.
On June 12, 2024, the investigation was finally dropped, as Lisa A. found out on request. NIUS has the letter, which states:
‘In response to your enquiry, we are informed that the proceedings were discontinued due to a lack of sufficient suspicion. As a result, it could not be ruled out that the criminal post was written by someone other than the accused.’
This ‘other’ is the accused’s brother. The theory of the public prosecutor’s office: The (now deleted) Facebook account from which the offences originated is: ‘alex.hema. 16’. The accused’s brother’s second name is ‘Iskander’, which is the Persian version of ‘Alexander’. Therefore, it could also be the brother, according to the judiciary. However, no investigations have been initiated against him.
An appeal by Lisa A. against the closure of the investigation was also ultimately unsuccessful. The Public Prosecutor General of Saxony-Anhalt is sticking to the theory that it could have been the brother. The final status: no investigation. The offences have no consequences for the perpetrator. Lisa A. told NIUS: ‘Before the public prosecutor’s office practises onomastics [name research, editor’s note], they could have ordered a house search. For me, the public prosecutor’s office in Halle is completely miscast. These people shouldn’t have any decision-making powers – that’s how I see it.’
Questions remain unanswered: Why were no house searches ordered, which would be entirely appropriate in the case of Holocaust trivialisation and rape threats? Why were the Syrian brothers not questioned in order to clarify which of them committed the anti-Semitic and misogynistic offences?
How can this be if even trivialities such as a ‘moron’ meme for Robert Habeck are enough to enable house searches? Is there a double standard when perpetrators are migrants? The suspicion arises.