Overview

• The Tiergarten district court found the 32-year-old defendant guilty of coercion after he physically blocked Lahav Shapira from entering a lecture hall during a December 2023 occupation at Freie Universität Berlin.
• Charges of bodily harm and antisemitic insult were dropped when prosecutors acknowledged lack of proof and the insult complaint arrived too late.
• Prosecutors had urged a 2,500-euro fine while the defense argued the exclusion was lawful to prevent further property damage.
• Shapira testified that university authorities had authorized him to remove posters demonizing Israel prior to the confrontation.
• The verdict highlights legal and policy challenges for universities under Berlin’s Higher Education Law to address campus antisemitism and protest protocols.