Editor of German far-right outlet receives suspended sentence in freedom of speech case

The editor-in-chief of a far-right German media outlet has received a seven-month suspended prison sentence for sharing a digitally altered photo of the country’s Interior Minister, to whom he has been ordered to send a written apology.

Der Spiegel reported that the photo in question was posted by Deutschland-Kurier’s David Bendels on the outlet’s X account at the end of February.

The post showed Faeser holding a sign reading “I hate freedom of speech”, and was widely shared and viewed.

The original image was taken from an official Interior Ministry post showing Faeser holding a sign commemorating the victims of National Socialism, reading “We remember”.

The court concluded that unbiased viewers might not have been able to recognise that the photo was manipulated.

Faeser was reportedly alerted to the post by the police, and subsequently filed a criminal complaint.

Bendels has no prior criminal convictions, and is expected to launch an appeal. He insists that the post was satirical.