By Gunnar Schupelius
Anyone who denies or downplays a war crime or genocide can be punished in the future. Freedom of opinion, speech and science is restricted. That is terribly dangerous, says Gunnar Schupelius.
Late in the evening of October 20, the Bundestag amended the German penal code. A fifth paragraph was added to paragraph 130 for hate speech.
This change was waved through without a hearing from experts and received very little public attention. This is strange because the consequences can be significant.
Now anyone who denies or “grossly downplays” a war crime, genocide or crime against humanity is punished with up to three years in prison.
The SPD, Greens, FDP and CDU voted for this change in the law, while the Left and AfD spoke out against it. So far, it has not been forbidden to spread false claims about political or historical contexts.
The only exception was Holocaust denial. Since 1994 one can no longer claim with impunity that the murder of European Jews by the National Socialists did not take place.
The Holocaust is a clearly defined and proven historical fact. So the judges know exactly what to sentence.
The situation is different with the current amendment to the Criminal Code. In a crisis area or in a war, it is not always clear what type of crime is involved. All sides lie so that the beams bend, disinformation is part of the political business.
In times of war or crises, journalists, scientists and all other observers have to be particularly critical, otherwise they will be taken in by the official propaganda. In the future, however, they must fear that their criticism will be punishable.
Because anyone who now questions a war crime because he thinks that he lacks the evidence can be convicted of playing it down or denying it, even if it has not yet been proven whether it really is a war crime.
The new paragraph is designed so vaguely. Then the magistrate has to decide what is true and what is not. But he is not able to do that.
Apart from this ambiguity, it is questionable whether the state is even allowed to criminalize denial and trivialization. That’s actually impossible in the land of free speech where we live. That is just as impossible as trying to forbid lying.
If the state does it anyway, it thinks it has the truth. But there is only a ministry for truth in a dictatorship. George Orwell described it in his Dark Vision (“1984”).
So where are we headed with the newly drafted paragraph on hate speech? Will freedom of opinion, speech and science be further restricted? We have to assume that, and that is terribly dangerous.
Is Gunnar Schupelius right? Call: 030/2591 73153 or email: [email protected]