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Olaf Latzel in court (on November 25, 2020)
Photo: Sina Schuldt / dpa
The trial of 55-year-old Bremen pastor Olaf Latzel for alleged incitement to hatred is being reopened.
The Hanseatic Higher Regional Court in Bremen decided on Thursday to overturn a judgment of the regional court from May 2022.
The decision is final.
Thus, the evangelical pastor has to answer to the district court again.
At the center of the allegations are statements made by Latzel during a marriage seminar in October 2019.
Specifically, in the seminar “Biblical Driving School for Marriage” the pastor spoke to about 30 married couples about “criminals” from Christopher Street Day with reference to homosexuals.
There was also talk of »gender dirt«.
According to the indictment, he also described homosexuality as a “degenerative form of society”.
The statements were also published on a YouTube channel by Latzel's St. Martini Church.
In November 2020, the Bremen District Court sentenced Latzel to a fine totaling 8,100 euros for incitement to hatred.
In an appeal process, the regional court acquitted him.
According to the court, he did not incite hatred.
The statements were also covered by freedom of religion and freedom of expression.
Latzel told the dpa news agency about the latest development that he was not allowed to comment because of the ongoing disciplinary proceedings.
The defense had requested that the appeal be dismissed.
According to the court, the context was roughly communicated or not communicated at all
The presiding judge emphasized the role of human dignity in the justification for overturning the verdict.
He also followed the arguments of the Bremen public prosecutor's office in places, according to which the regional court had only incompletely determined how things had happened.
The judge complained that the context of Latzel's potentially inflammatory statements was roughly communicated or not communicated at all.
The Bremen Evangelical Church informed the dpa that the verdict had been noted.
However, an assessment will only be made after the process has been completed.
The state working group Queer of the Greens in Bremen welcomed the court's decision in a statement.
Critics of the pastor held a rally outside the courthouse during the trial.
jok/dpa