Thuringia’s Minister-President Bodo Ramelow has avoided criminal charges after showing his middle finger to an AfD lawmaker during a state parliament session last year—an act that will now cost him €5,000.
The incident took place in the summer of 2024, when Ramelow, a senior figure in Germany’s Left Party, showed AfD MP Stefan Möller the middle finger and reportedly called him a “disgusting scumbag.” Möller filed a criminal complaint for insult.
To allow a formal investigation, the Thuringian state parliament lifted Ramelow’s political immunity in December. But prosecutors in Erfurt have now dropped the case after Ramelow agreed to pay €5,000 to two non-political charities.
A court spokesperson explained that the conditions of the settlement must be serious enough to “eliminate the public interest in prosecution” and must not contradict the “seriousness of the guilt.”
The case was closed without a trial, and Ramelow is not considered legally guilty. The presumption of innocence remains intact.
