German radical right-wing European parliamentarian Petr Bystron has been acquitted on appeal by a court in Munich of sharing a photo showing a Hitler salute. That is illegal in Germany. It was a statue of former Chancellor Angela Merkel.
In 2022, AfD member Bystron posted a collage on The court calls the image ‘tasteless’, but not punishable.
Image may have been edited
Prosecutors said the images on Bystron’s X account were edited to make it look like people were giving a Hitler salute. In one case, an image was mirrored, causing former first lady Bettina Wulff to appear to extend her right arm instead of the left, but otherwise there is no evidence of this, the appeal judge finds.
At first instance, Bystron was sentenced to a fine of 11,250 euros. Both the judiciary and Bystron’s lawyers appealed.
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