Overview
- The Berlin Regional Court fined a 25-year-old €2,700 for chanting the slogan at a December 2024 protest and for posting images tied to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades on Instagram.
- Presiding judge Susann Wettley ruled the phrase functions as an identifying sign of Hamas and that its use signals support for the group's goal of eliminating Israel.
- The court described the defendant as a ringleader who led a call-and-response of the chant during a Friedrichshain demonstration.
- Defense lawyers announced a revision, and prosecutors said the case could reach the Federal Court of Justice for nationwide clarification on the slogan's criminality.
- German courts have issued divergent decisions on the phrase in both criminal and administrative contexts, with a previous Berlin state-security chamber ruling already final but other courts acquitting or differing on bans at demonstrations.