Overview
- The Munich Regional Court, which ruled Thursday, overturned a lower court verdict and cleared Bystron of criminally using a Hitler salute in a 2022 collage.
- Judges said they could not prove he spread the salute or altered images to create it, noting one photo was only mirrored so a left arm appeared raised.
- A Munich district court had earlier fined him 90 daily rates of €125 for using symbols of an unconstitutional group, and both sides appealed that decision.
- After the acquittal, the presiding judge called the collage tasteless, while Bystron called the charge absurd and said the case was political.
- The decision signals that courts will look for clear proof of intent and manipulation in social media image cases under Germany’s strict Nazi symbol ban.