Overview
- The appeal hearing begins Wednesday at the Landgericht Bamberg after David Bendels challenged his April conviction.
- The Amtsgericht Bamberg had imposed a seven‑month suspended prison term with a two‑year probation period for defamation against a political figure.
- The post showed Nancy Faeser with an edited sign reading “Ich hasse die Meinungsfreiheit!” alongside the Deutschland‑Kurier caption “Faeser hasst Meinungsfreiheit!,” which the lower court said Bendels mounted onto the image.
- The original photo came from a Federal Interior Ministry post for Holocaust Remembrance Day showing Faeser holding a sign that read “We remember.”
- The case followed an initial penal order of 210 day‑fines at €50 each, and any decision by the Landgericht could be further appealed to the Bavarian Supreme Regional Court.