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"Z" symbol on tank
Photo: Alexander Ermochenko / REUTERS
The "Z" is highlighted in large letters on the T-shirt, the other letters are printed in small letters: the Higher Administrative Court of Saxony-Anhalt has banned the wearing of shirts with the imprint "mmmhhh lemonade" at a meeting in Halle an der Saale.
The court sees the play on words with the oversized »Z« as fulfilling the objective criminal offense of approving a war of aggression.
Wearing the T-shirts at a demonstration poses "an immediate danger to public safety" (Az 3 M 45/22).
The "Z" is considered a symbol of support for the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.
With its decision, the Higher Administrative Court revised a different ruling by the Halle Administrative Court and confirmed a meeting requirement of the police inspection.
This had forbidden the applicant to wear such T-shirts at the meeting.
Due to the optical design of the T-shirt print and the oversized emphasis on one letter, only the clearly dominant "Z" is perceptible to the viewer - in contrast to the neologism "mmmhhh [...]-itronenlimonade", which is hardly perceptible from a distance. explained the OVG.
The Senate has no doubt that, given the intense media coverage since the start of Russia's attack on Ukraine, the average informed person is aware of the symbolic power of the capital "Z" and thus gets the impression that the wearer of the shirt in question approves of the aggressive war.
kha/AFP
