Three social workers from the KSC fan project are taking action against fines before the Karlsruhe regional court on Thursday. They were convicted because they refused to testify about the Pyro incident.
The appeal proceedings against three employees of the Karlsruhe fan project before the regional court were discontinued on Thursday subject to conditions. The defendants, the public prosecutor and the criminal chamber have agreed on this. After a pyrotechnics scandal in November 2022, the three refused to testify as witnesses about KSC fans involved.
The presiding judge suggested that the proceedings should be discontinued
At the beginning of the trial, the presiding judge made it clear that one had to ask oneself what signal should be sent from the trial: continue to insist on hardened fronts, or find a constructive solution.
You have to move towards each other. It has a signaling effect as to how such processes can be solved, even if the legislation remains as it is.
Peter Stier, presiding judge of the Karlsruhe Regional Court
He also made it clear that some key questions remained unanswered after the proceedings at the district court. For example, how the three defendants can be specifically proven to have attempted to thwart punishment. In his view, a witness statement from the social workers would have had a barely measurable effect on the trial and conviction of the KSC fans involved in the pyrotechnics.
Social workers point out the importance of their work
An admission of guilt is not an agreement to discontinue the proceedings. This is what the defenders of social workers emphasize. People are aware of the importance and scope of the procedure. None of the three defendants were guilty of a crime.
The uncertainty among social workers nationwide is huge. And that has to change.
Angela Furmaniak, defense attorney for a social worker
Nevertheless, they want to send a signal and approach the public prosecutor’s office in order to improve further cooperation. The fight for social workers’ right to refuse to testify must continue outside the court. With one exception, the fine is half of the fine imposed by the district court, i.e. between 1,500 and 3,150 euros. The money will go to the Child Protection Association.
KSC Pyro trial: Social workers appealed against fines
A year ago, after a two-day trial, the Karlsruhe district court sentenced the social workers to fines of between 4,050 and 6,300 euros for thwarting punishment. The sentence was imposed as 90 daily rates, meaning that the convicts do not have a criminal record.
According to the reasons for the judgment from October 2024, there was no right to refuse to testify; the three employees would have known this early on. They deliberately concealed information about the course of the momentous pyrotechnic event.
Legal Negotiation marathon after the pyro scandal Wildpark Stadium
In the pyrotechnic scandal almost three years ago before the KSC game against St. Pauli, eleven people were injured, some seriously. Several fans from the Karlsruhe ultra scene were charged with bodily harm and some were sentenced to prison. Since the summer, numerous appeal hearings from KSC fans have been going on before the Karlsruhe regional court. In some cases, the verdicts already handed down there were lower than in the district court.
KSC fan project: Nationwide solidarity with social workers
The fan project employees had already had one before the district court hearing broad alliance from associations, unions and clubs on their side, who demanded a right for social workers to refuse to give evidence and thus a reform of the relevant legal paragraph.
The Hoffenheim fans show solidarity with the condemned KSC supporters at the game in Berlin.
Fan associations nationwide protested against the conviction. They demand a right to refuse to give evidence, as in other areas of social work. Even before the appeal hearing, fan associations showed solidarity with the Karlsruhe fan project. Corresponding banners could be seen in numerous stadiums.
The appointment negotiations not only affect the fan project in Karlsruhe, but also represent an important signal for the future of social-educational fan work as a whole.
Federal Association of Fan Projects (BAG) in a press release
The Karlsruhe fan project has been doing committed, qualified and indispensable work at the interface between football, the fan scene and society for years, the BAG continued. The working group is an association of 70 social-educational fan projects in Germany.
Federal Government leans Refusal to testify for Fan project staff further off
It was only last August that the federal government reaffirmed its position regarding the right to refuse to testify for fan projects. In one Answer to a request from the Greens On the one hand, the special relationship of trust between fan project employees and fans was highlighted.
Nevertheless, there will be an expansion [des Zeugnisverweigerungsrechts] from the points of view […] effective law enforcement and the lack of comparability of the situation […] rejected.
Answer from Parliamentary State Secretary Anette Kramme (SPD) on August 5th
Last year, the federal government at the time had already responded in a response a request from the left an extension of the right to refuse to give evidence for social workers in fan projects was rejected for the same reasons. In both cases, reference was made to the case law of the Federal Constitutional Court.
Broadcast on Thursday, October 16, 2025, 6:00 a.m., SWR4 BW in the morning, SWR4 Baden-Württemberg
More about the processes surrounding the pyrotechnic scandal
