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Dresden Court Softens Sentence for Pegida Founder Over Extremist Telegram Posts

The milder penalty followed his decision to accept the legal consequences of the posts.

Overview

  • The Landgericht Dresden found Lutz Bachmann guilty of accessory to incitement and accessory to using symbols of unconstitutional and terrorist organizations.
  • The court imposed two suspended prison terms of nine months and four months, a combined reduction of four months from the 2024 judgment.
  • Prosecutors withdrew their own appeal after Bachmann limited his appeal to the question of punishment, a step treated as a confession by the court.
  • The case focused on a 2021 image pairing an SS officer with a police officer featuring banned SS runes and a skull, and later posts maligning refugees and staff at an asylum shelter.
  • Reports from court noted the elapsed time since the posts and no newly recorded offenses since 2024; Bachmann lives in Spain and told the court he works in his wife's firm helping people emigrate.