Cologne: Gil Ofarim on the set of “Everything that counts”, 2017.
Photo: Getty Images, Tristar Media. All rights reserved.
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In October 2021, Gil Ofarim accused the staff of the Leipzig “Westin” hotel of having behaved anti-Semitically towards him. He is said to have been denied check-in because he wore a necklace with the Star of David around his neck.
Ofarim published the alleged incident in the form of a video on Instagram. After the surveillance camera recordings were evaluated and the witnesses were questioned, doubts arose about the musician’s accusation, since according to experts, no necklace can be seen on the surveillance camera images. The singer has been charged by the hotel with defamation and false suspicion.
The charge was admitted
The district court in Leipzig has now confirmed that the proceedings against him have been opened and that the charges of September 15th have been approved – Ofarim must answer to the public prosecutor on October 24th. In addition, the regional court allowed the accessory prosecution of the hotel employee accused by Ofarim.
The court documents stated: “The defendant is further charged with having made himself liable to prosecution on two counts of false suspicion, one of which was defamation, by allegedly making untruthful statements both in the context of a video and to the police that an employee of a hotel in Leipzig asked him to ‘put away his star'”.
Ofarim had previously resisted the occupation of the responsible criminal chamber. He also accused judge Jens Kaden of bias. “In a preliminary talk he had already frankly stated that he himself found it difficult to imagine the course of events alleged by Mr Ofarim. Because in Leipzig, as is well known, there is no significant problem with anti-Semitism,” says lawyer Alexander Stevens.
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