The state prosecution office in Flensburg has discontinued the investigation into incitement to hatred against four individuals in connection with the so-called Sylt video. After reviewing the video material, there were not enough indications for further pursuit of the case, a source familiar with the case told the “Welt” newspaper. During Pentecost in 2024, a group of young adults sang the lyrics “Germany for Germans, foreigners out” to the song “L`amour toujours” on the terrace of the Sylter scene bar “Pony”. This had caused outrage throughout the country. The singing remains a “expression of opinion” protected by Article 5 of the Basic Law, according to the newspaper. Against a man who makes a modified “Hitler” gesture in the video, the state prosecution office in Flensburg issued a fine of 2,500 euros for the use of a constitutionally incompatible symbol (Article 86a of the Criminal Code). If the court and the accused agree to the fine, it will remain unrecorded. There will be no entry in the driving record either. The person who uploaded the video from the “Pony” to social media and is not visible in it, remains without guilt according to the newspaper. The Landgericht Oldenburg came to a similar conclusion in a decision with a fundamental character in the question of incitement to hatred as the state prosecution office in Flensburg did now. In this case, it was about two 16- and 17-year-old teenagers who had also sung the modified chorus to the song “L`amour toujours” at a regional shooting festival on May 20, 2024. The local court in Cloppenburg rejected the initiation of a case and the Landgericht Oldenburg rejected the appeal of the state prosecution office against this decision as “unfounded in substance.” The Landgericht wrote in its reasoning that such statements also fall under the protection of freedom of opinion under Article 5 GG. Among other things, the court argues: “The slogan ‘Germany for Germans, foreigners out’ is to be clearly classified as an evaluative statement and thus as an opinion. As such, it enjoys the protection of freedom of opinion, without regard to its plausibility, value, or correctness. Even if it is expressed sharply and exaggeratedly, it does not lose this protection.
Sylt Video Investigation Terminated
