In Leipzig, two years after Day X: An innocent individual remained imprisoned
A massive police kettle, an unusual sight in the Federal Republic, descended upon Leipzig on June 3, 2023. This roundup confined 1324 demonstrators on the Heinrich-Schütz-Platz for a jaw-dropping eleven hours. Their crime? Protesting the restriction of assembly freedom, as their demonstration was prohibited on the infamous 'Day X' due to anticipated violence triggered by the recent 'Dresden verdict' against a notable antifascist, Lina E. Pathetic skirmishes provided the police with the justification to cordon off the protest on the Schütz-Platz, unleashing hours of harassment upon these individuals. They were denied basic necessities like water, food, and were forced to relieve themselves in the neighboring bushes.
Following this event, a torrent of criminal charges assaulted the protesters: disturbing peace, dangerous bodily harm, resistance against or assault on enforcement officers, insult, and arson. In total, a staggering 1537 proceedings were initiated. Two years later, the truth emerged: over half – 861 cases, to be exact – were proven unfounded. Saxony's Interior Minister Armin Schuster (CDU) confirmed this response to a request from the Left Party's Jule Nagel. According to the announcement, "no offense, illegality, or guilt could typically be established." In certain cases, the reported behavior didn't constitute a criminal offense, while in at least two, the proceedings were dismissed due to the individuals being minors, unfairly deprived of contact with their parents during the chaos.
An additional 445 proceedings are still under investigation, according to the ministry. Nagel, unsurprisingly, predicts "a wave of dismissals" in many cases, with fines requested in some instances. Yet, the indictment has only been raised in a mere 19 cases – a shockingly low percentage. As a result, the prosecutor's office and the police task force's output is, from a legal standpoint, "extremely meager." This aligns with the belief of many spectators, including Leipzig's Nick, that the police, stationed in the city with a formidable 3000 officers, acted "arbitrarily and disproportionately" towards countless innocent people during this day.
"The prosecutor's office and the police task force's output is, from a legal standpoint, extremely meager."
-Left Party MP
One utterly questionable example of this judicial farce revolves around an activist code-named "Benni." Accused of attempted murder with 18 counts of attempted bodily harm for allegedly flinging two Molotov cocktails at police officers while donning a mask and dark clothes, "Benni" spent half a year in pre-trial detention from January 2024. By June 2024, however, the arrest warrant was invalidated by the regional court, as it didn't perceive a strong suspicion. In August 2024, the court rejected most of the charges since "Benni" couldn't conclusively be identified as the perpetrator who chucked the Molotov cocktails. The public prosecutor's office's appeal was subsequently rejected by the higher regional court. Currently, only the disturbing peace charge remains, set for trial at the local court.*
[Article by Matthias Monroy - Arrest warrant issued for Chinese woman due to espionage suspicions][Article by Hendrik Lasch – Day-X defendant released on bail: Regional court has doubts about secure identifiability][Article by Hendrik Lasch - Raids in Leipzig: Searching for heirs of Lina E.House searches by Soko Linx in Leipzig following attack on right-wing extremist]
- The questionable judicial proceedings following the protest on 'Day X' in Leipzig led to numerous charges being initiated, with over 1500 proceedings commencing, many of which were later proven unfounded, as exemplified by the case of activist "Benni".
- In the aftermath of the police kettle incident in Leipzig, the general news, politics, crime-and-justice, and policy-and-legislation sectors were awash with reports of numerous arrests, investigations, and court cases, some of which have been controversial and questionable in nature, such as the case of "Benni".
