David Bendels is a journalist who has been the publisher and editor-in-chief of the alternative and patriotic online magazine Deutschland-Kurier since 2017. We talk about the right-wing media and freedom of speech in Germany, following his conviction for mocking government officials.
Tell me about Deutschland-Kurier.
The Deutschland-Kurier, founded in 2017, is the widest-reaching, most influential, alternative and patriotic news magazine in Germany, reaching over 15 million readers and online users in Germany and Europe every week.
What is the situation of the conservative media in Germany?
Basically there is no such thing as conservative media in Germany anymore! What you define or imagine to be “conservative media” should be better named alternative media. Why? Concerning the situation over here, it is a matter of fact that the term “conservative” has widely become a meaningless universal sort of label, describing almost everything that is not far-left. It is a passe-partout word for all not meaning to be expressively socialist. By this definition of “conservative” the Christian Union Party CDU still claims to be conservative, which is quite a joke!
How can a party be called “conservative” that betrays its principles on the altar of left-green wokeness? On the altar of climate-madness? That supports destroying nature and culture-landscapes, woods with centuries-old trees like the fairytale forest of the famous brothers Grimm in Hesse? That supports murdering millions of birds for mass installation of wind turbines which have no—absolutely no—effect on energy security over here!? How can a party be “conservative” that is about to agree to never ending debt-making and tax-rising just to be “on board again” in the next Left government?
“Conservative” has become a hollow word in Germany. That is why I would rather speak of alternative media. But to answer your question: in Germany, these media are under enormous pressure from the cartel of the old parties. Abusing the fundamental rights of free speech and press-liberty, their long arm reaches deeply into justice. The system over here is afraid of nothing more than of the possibility that people might recognize the truth, might realize the political fraud that is going on. To quote Abraham Lincoln: “You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time. But you can not fool all the people all of the time.” That is exactly what the establishment in Berlin fears, like the devil shies away from the holy water. And those words of Abraham Lincoln are our job!
You have received a hefty fine for mocking Germany’s Social Democratic Interior Minister Nancy Faeser in some satirical memes you posted on your X account. On what basis did the judiciary condemn you? Is satire a hate crime?
It is with no doubt satire. On X, Elon Musk has been deeply concerned and has taken notice of this smear campaign staged by Faeser, writing: “This is crazy!” Prosecutors and judges have committed this perversion of justice. Former federal minister of defence and top constitutional law expert Prof. Rupert Scholz has sharply criticized the criminal charges brought by Faeser by saying: “Faeser’s action against Mr. Bendels seems to be arbitrary!” He added: “In my view, the criminal charges have no basis. I do not see any criminal liability under Section 188 of the German Criminal Code (StGB).” This norm, also known as the “lèse majesté paragraph,” criminalizes insults, defamation, and slander against political figures.
Rupert Scholz also underlined: “In particular, the poster ‘I hate free speech,’ which is recognizable as satire, is covered by freedom of the press and freedom of opinion.” Scholz also considers it to be unproblematic that the Deutschland-Kurier published a tweet by AfD politician Maximilian Krah on the knife rampage by a Syrian in Annecy, France, in June 2023 and that we asked neutrally for an open opinion on Krah’s statement that, “Mass immigration is deadly.” Mr. Scholz couldn’t see any incitement of the people in accordance with Section 130 of the German Criminal Code (section 130 concerns hatred and incitement). So I must ask you: is it a crime to ask people neutrally for their opinion about other people’s opinions? This is absolutely ridiculous! And this is how far things have gone over here in Germany!
Could you face jail time in addition to the fine for these memes?
Yes, that is a real danger I am facing. And this also appears to be the purpose: punish one man and silence hundreds! In Germany, people are considered to have a criminal record if they receive a sentence of 90 days or more; and, in my case, the sentences add up to 480 days. That practically means a muzzle. The only reason that I’m not going to prison immediately is due to the fact that I don’t yet have a criminal record. But the system’s message behind these absurdly high sentences is clear: Don’t dare step on our toes again!
In the meme mentioned by Prof. Scholz, Nancy Faeser is shown holding a sign with the words, “I hate free speech.” This persecution against you appears to confirm what the sign says.
Exactly! Just imagine the meme would have said: “I love free speech.” It would have been the joke of the century! The highly renowned Hamburg media lawyer Joachim Steinhöfel said, with reference to the meme in question here: “The penalty order now issued by a Bamberg criminal court judge for a clearly permissible expression of opinion criminalizes the exercise of a fundamental right. The professional incompetence required for this is so difficult to imagine that one can no longer rule out a deliberate misapplication of the law.”
As a non-lawyer, I can only interpret Attorney Steinhöfel’s statement to mean that there appears to be a serious and punishable accusation of obstruction of justice! And Madam Faeser, who herself is a fully qualified lawyer, knows only too well what she is doing with her campaign against free speech and press liberty.
Have you received support from journalists’ associations or colleagues outside the alternative camp?
Unfortunately not. But that wasn’t really surprising. Most of the editors of the mainstream-media over here are left-green minded. And many publications financially depend upon either the government or the support of George Soros’ NGO-mafia. Spiegel magazine, for instance, had been sponsored in the past with more than €5 million euros by the Gates Foundation. It is more than sad to see how this “assault gun of democracy,” as founder Rudolf Augstein once called his publication, has degenerated to a cuddly pet of the left-green woke system!
The Scholz government is disintegrating, and polls indicate the decline of the SPD in the upcoming elections. Do you believe that this attack on freedom of expression is due to their despair as they face their downfall?
No. From my point of view it has nothing to do with the elections. Repression is inherent in the system all the time. Like I said: punish one and silence hundreds! Let me illustrate the whole danger for democracy in Germany with another example. Mrs. Faeser and the head of the domestic intelligence service, Mr. Haldenwang, who is in her employ, have invented the concept of “delegitimizing the state” in order to criminalize critics. This term does not even exist in any German criminal law. But the system uses it in full awareness just to put people in the Nazi corner and silence them. It is really frightening. More and more people over here are deeply concerned: Quo vadis, Germany? If we don’t stop this disastrous development, the journey one day will end in a left-green dictatorship of wokeness. Instead of swastika flags, rainbow flags will fly on all public buildings and places in Germany.
Angela Merkel has just published a book in which she defends her entire leadership, entitled Freedom. What do you think about Merkel’s legacy and the title of the book?
The book should have been entitled Cheekiness instead of Freedom! The so-called autobiography of Merkel is kidding the readers: €42 for 700 pages full of self-righteous self-congratulation. Money thrown out the window!
We remember: during Merkel’s chancellorship, playgrounds were closed, park benches were closed, and walks were banned. She is responsible for Germany’s economic decline because she forced the idiotic nuclear phase-out. There is blood on her hands because she is responsible for mass immigration and the endless suffering she brought upon so many families of the victims of knife stabbers and rapists by not closing Germany’s borders in 2015. One wonders when she will sign up for the Greens? But this is not necessary anymore, because she has deformed the Christian Union party.
As a matter of fact, in recent years, Merkel has sympathized with the absolute prohibition party—the Greens. Most recently, Merkel even regretted that a black-green coalition did not materialize in 2013. And now, behind the curtain, she is pushing her party again on this way. May I refer to a quote about the Greens from Franz Josef Strauß, the great longtime conservative prime minister of Bavaria and also longtime leader of the Christian Social Union CSU, sister-party of CDU. Strauss died in 1988, but about Merkel he would have said, if he had known her, that: “She is actually the perfect melon: her politics are green outside and red inside.” In summary, the book’s title Freedom doesn’t fit at all! As a normal citizen, one must feel mocked.
