The founder of Germany’s far-right group Pegida has been fined €9,600 for a Facebook outburst in which he branded immigrants “cattle” and “scum”.
A Dresden court fined found Lutz Bachmann (43) guilty of incitement, the latest in a string of convictions for the trained chef and PR consultant.
The state prosecutor had called for a seven-month prison sentence, as Bachmann made the remarks while still on probation for a drug sentence.
Bachmann’s defence lawyer called for the case to be dismissed, as he denied making the posts in September 2014. The court dismissed this argument after the prosecution produced a video from January 2015, three months after he founded Pegida.
The posts had just become public and, in an address to followers, Bachmann admitted “using words that we’ve all used, I’m sure, down the pub”.
Pegida was founded in October 2014 as “Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident” and organises weekly marches in Dresden in protest against the migration policy of German chancellor Angela Merkel.
After the Facebook posts and other scandals – including Hitler selfies – Bachmann dropped out of sight as Pegida leader but later returned.
At its height, the group attracted 10-15,000 marchers weekly, though this has dwindled of late.
Germany’s criminal code punishes incitement with prison sentences of between three months and five years.
Judge Hans-Joachim Hvlaka said he was not imposing a prison sentence because “it would not be appropriate to the level of guilt”.
“We cannot clarify fully how many people could read the chat as it was still accessible in the internet,” he said.
After the verdict, Bachmann thanked about 40 supporters who had come to the court to support him in what he called a “political trial”.
His defence lawyer announced plans to appeal.
