Right-wing extremists in Saxony advertise with Habeck kidnapping video for anti-Green demo
Created: 08/08/2022, 19:54
By: Sandra Kathe
Right-wing extremists from Saxony have now made the topic of the energy crisis their own and are campaigning for a “demonstration” in Heidenau, Saxony, with Robert Habeck, Minister for Economic Affairs, who has been sentenced to be “pilloried”.
(Archive photo) © Soeren Stache/dpa
A video has appeared on Facebook in which Economics Minister Robert Habeck is "kidnapped" and sentenced to "16 weeks in the pillory".
Traces lead to Saxony.
Berlin – In a video on the social network Facebook and in the news app Telegram, right-wing extremists from Saxony are promoting an event at which a false Robert Habeck (Greens) is to be pilloried in Heidenau, Saxony.
According to a report by the
German Press Agency (dpa)
, the reason for the crude advertising was that the organizers of the "demonstration" in Heidenau did not agree with Habeck's party's sanctions policy.
In response to the video, which was also shared in the channels of the QAnon conspiracy movement, Habeck's Federal Ministry of Economics announced legal consequences and requested that the content be removed from the Internet platforms.
It shows, for example, how the Vice Chancellor was accused in a trial and sentenced "by the people" to "16 weeks in the pillory on the local market square".
It also included kidnapping scenes showing a man in a red and orange prison suit with a sack over his head and handcuffs in a vehicle.
Right-wing extremists call for a "demo" with a Habeck video: the public prosecutor's office is investigating
According to the Dresden public prosecutor's office, preliminary proceedings have already been started in this case, because calling for a criminal offense can also be a criminal offence.
The spokesman for the Dresden public prosecutor, Steve Schulze-Reinhold, confirmed an initial suspicion.
In order to check whether it is actually a crime, the video is currently being evaluated.
When asked by the dpa
, the Saxon Office for the Protection of the Constitution said
with regard to the planned action in Heidenau: "As an early warning system, it is our duty to unmask the extremist tone of such campaigns.
This is not about factual criticism, but about the abuse of the constitutionally protected freedom of assembly for an extremist action. ”One can only warn concerned citizens against protesting side by side with right-wing extremists and from them “pulling in front of the cart”. leave, the statement said.
Right-wing extremists want to score with energy crisis: Ministry of the Interior warns
It is an essential part of the strategy of extremists to take up topics in both the real world and the virtual world that dominate the political discourse or affect large parts of the population, said the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
These currently include the looming energy crisis and its consequences as well as the already rampant inflation.
However, according to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the right-wing extremists have not had particularly great success with the new topic of the energy crisis.
Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) also announced that she would take legal action against the creators of the video: “There is a lot of hatred and hate speech on the internet right now, and that has to worry you.
(...) The peaceful protest stops where others are threatened, as is the case now by my colleague Robert Habeck.” According to a report by the
AFP
news agency , Faeser warned against joining such protests, “or a post like that also to like".
Faeser emphasized: "We will also hold those who posted this video responsible for it." (ska with dpa / AFP)
