A German political activist who was the victim of an Islamist knife attack during a rally in Mannheim in May has been fined for supposedly inciting hatred against Muslim migrants.
Michael Stürzenberger, 60, was fined this week by the Hamburg Regional Court after being found guilty of incitement to hatred against Muslims and refugees.
The veteran activist, who has long campaigned against the influence of political Islam in Germany and Europe, was previously set to spend six months in prison over the speech crime offence. However, it was downgraded this week to a 3,600 euro fine, the Berliner Zeitung reports.
Under German law, which does not have First Amendment-style protections of free speech, those found guilty of incitement to hatred can face up to five years in prison.
It is believed that Stürzenberger’s appearance before the court in Hamburg was his first public appearance since he was among six people attacked by a suspected Islamist failed asylum seeker from Afghanistan at a rally by the Citizens’ Movement Pax Europa group.
The attack, which was caught on live stream video, saw accused attacker Sulaiman Ataee allegedly stab Stürzenberger and five others at a market square in Mannheim, including a police officer who later died of wounds to his neck.
The stabbing sent shockwaves through the political landscape in Germany, playing a significant role in the move by the pro-migration government of Olaf Scholz to enact stricter border controls and to look to restart deportations to Afghanistan and Syria.
Stürzenberger was not convicted over comments made at the rally in Mannheim but rather at a separate event organised by Citizens’ Movement Pax Europa in Hamburg in October 2020.
The political activist has long been a critic of the negative impacts of political Islam and has previously been criminally convicted for writing that Islam is a “cancer” in Europe.
The Citizens’ Movement Pax Europa group, which primarily campaigns against the construction of new mosques in Germany, has previously been branded by the Bavarian State Office for the Protection of the Constitution as an “Islamophobic” organisation.
Following the attack in Mannheim, Stürzenberger continued to publicly criticize Islamic ideology, declaring: “Political Islam is the greatest threat to our security and freedom. If the responsible politicians and the mass media do not finally recognize this, there will probably be many more victims.”
