The German authorities have so far shown relative tolerance towards organizers and participants of actions in support of Russia's war in Ukraine, but in the future these Putinists may have to face the severity of German law, according to information gathered by Neatkarīgā from the German media and social media.
According to the German media Redaktionsnetzwerks Deutschland and Deutsche Welle, a total of 140 "proceedings" had been launched in various German states by April 18 for expressing support for Russia's military offensive in Ukraine. Most of these cases are related to the promotion of the letters Z and V used by the Russian army, which have clearly become symbols of support for the war in Ukraine. The promotion of these symbols constitutes glorification of a military invasion within the meaning of Article 140 of the German Criminal Code, which is punishable by a fine or up to three years' imprisonment.
It should be understood here that German criminal procedure is different from Latvian criminal procedure: in Germany, "initiation of proceedings" does not mean that "criminal proceedings" are immediately initiated, as would be the case in Latvia.
Last week, unconfirmed information appeared on Facebook that the German authorities had carried out a thorough investigation of the pro-military aggression campaigners and their cars using modern facial recognition technology. The searches identified individuals who are Russian citizens but are in Germany either with residence permits or visas issued by European Union countries. According to the source, the authorities will decide on the cancellation of the visa or residence permit of some of the persons identified. Neatkarīgā has not yet been able to find official confirmation of this on the websites of the German police and the Ministry of the Interior.
From April 3 to 10, a motorcade took place in various German cities, during which several cars with Russian and USSR flags drove in a column through the streets of German cities. Several cars were also decorated with the letters Z and V. The participants in the motorcade regularly shouted derisive slogans against Ukraine, Ukrainian refugees and Ukrainian flags flying in front of buildings.
The largest such action took place in Berlin. There, the organizers managed to gather around 400 cars in a column. The event started on April 3 at midday on the outskirts of Berlin. The motorcade moved through the city to Berlin Central Station, where hundreds of refugees from Ukraine arrive every day. The journey continued to the outskirts on the opposite side of the city. Police officers watched the event closely and sometimes went to the cars to remove the letters Z and V, symbols of praising the war in Ukraine that are banned in Germany.
According to the Berliner Morgenpost, five proceedings have been initiated by the police authorities in connection with the promotion of the letter Z following the April 3 event. Similar war-glorifying actions took place in other German cities such as Bonn, Stuttgart and elsewhere. In Hanover and Frankfurt am Main, the authorities banned motorcades, and only allowed gatherings and rallies. These actions were less visible and therefore received much less public condemnation.
German newspapers have found out that the organizers of the Berlin motorcade are the co-owners of a car repair shop in Berlin, "Igor and Christian F.". They allegedly organized the event "to defend Russians from discrimination". Christian took part in the campaign with a Star of David stuck on his car and the question "Soon us too?". This, he said, meant that Russians in Germany are currently discriminated against in the same way as Jews were before World War II. The campaign was promoted through TikTok. They hoped that around 30 cars would turn up.
Addressing the police and the Governing Mayor of Berlin on Twitter, Ukraine's ambassador to Germany Andrij Melnyk wrote: "Dear God, how can such a shameful motorcade be allowed in the center of Berlin."
According to Deutsche Welle, the Ukrainian ambassador was supported by Georg Maier, Minister of the Interior of the state of Thüringen: "Putin's war crimes must not be allowed to be glorified on German roads. We do not seem to have the right to ban such car marches, but we must use all legal possibilities to regulate the right to free assembly so that such actions can be restricted."
Ralf Fücks, the co-founder of the Center for Liberal Modernity, said on Twitter: "I hope that the federal body responsible for monitoring compliance with the constitution has found out what role the Russian embassy in Germany played in organizing the event."
The weekly magazine Spiegel quotes Herbert Reul, Minister of the Interior of North Rhine-Westphalia: "In the light of the photographs of the atrocities of recent days, I personally cannot understand how one can side with war criminals."
In the context of the war-glorifying actions, the debate on the freedom of assembly guaranteed by the German constitution has been on the rise in German society.
Berlin's Governing Mayor Franziska Giffey while on the one hand supporting those who condemned the motorcade, at the same time acknowledged that the actions of the authorities during the event were right and proper. She stressed that freedom of assembly is guaranteed by the German constitution. The authorities also had no grounds to take action against the Russian flag-wavers.
The Thüringen Minister of the Interior Maier and other politicians are proposing to restrict motorcades to the outskirts of towns.
The most radical restrictions to date have been introduced by the Hannover authorities, who have not only banned the promotion of the letters Z and V, but also the flying of red USSR flags.
As blogger Grigori Arosiev explained to Deutschlandfunk's Voice of Berlin programme, "a hundred cars in a motorcade means a lot of cars, but it's only a hundred people". Gwendolyn Sasse, the Director of Center for Eastern European and International Studies, also spoke to Deutschlandfunk and urged them not to exaggerate the impact of pro-Russian and pro-Putin campaigns and to take into account that these few hundred people are opposed by thousands of people with contrary views, condemning the war and Russian aggression. She also called for it to be taken into account that a large number of Russians also take part in these actions to condemn the aggressors.
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