The trial surrounding the insult of Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) by the Austrian ex-politician Gerald Grosz is entering the next round. Both the defense and the public prosecutor’s office are appealing against the verdict, as the Deggendorf district court said on Tuesday at the request of the German press agency confirmed.
Last week, the court sentenced Grosz to a fine of almost 15,000 euros for his speech at the AfD’s political Ash Wednesday. The Austrian described Bavaria’s Prime Minister as “Södolf”, “Corona autocrat” and “traitor” in February 2023 in Osterhofen, Lower Bavaria. He called Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) a “horror clown” – the court also ruled against Grosz in his case.
When announcing the verdict, the judge said that the insult would bring Söder “close to the National Socialist regime.” However, Grosz had defended his choice of words in court as “satire” and announced that, in case of doubt, he would take the matter to the Federal Constitutional Court. Now the appeals chamber of the Deggendorf regional court must first deal with the case.