A German civil engineer has been sentenced to 30 days in prison after failing to properly appeal a fine he received for insulting a prominent politician. This case highlights the growing trend of individuals facing prosecution in Germany for “insulting” public figures.
The incident unfolded in May 2022 when the engineer, residing in Lower Saxony, sent an angry email to Manuela Schwesig, the state prime minister of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, who belongs to the left-liberal Social Democratic Party (SPD). In his message to the state chancellery, he called her a “storyteller” and accused her of spouting “stupid stuff.” He even suggested she should swap politics for construction work and “stop selling people stupid things,” criticizing what he saw as her pro-Russian stance on the war in Ukraine.
Offended by the email, Schwesig filed a criminal complaint, claiming the engineer had intentionally degraded her honor. The Osnabrück public prosecutor’s office took up the case, and the engineer was fined €3,000 for his remarks.
Though the engineer appealed, his attempt to challenge the fine went awry when his appeal, submitted in the wrong form, didn’t reach the right authorities. In May 2023, he was ordered to serve a prison sentence, but he ignored the summons. A few weeks later, police arrived at his workplace, arrested him, and took him to prison in Dortmund, where he served a 30-day sentence. His sudden disappearance left his friends and family worried, and after his release, he lost his job.
This case is part of a growing number of similar incidents in Germany, where citizens have faced raids and arrests for insulting politicians. One such case involved a retired soldier in Bavaria, whose house was raided after he called Economic Minister Robert Habeck an “idiot.”
