Readers sometimes point out to authors that the formulation that someone comes from the “right corner” is misleading. What is meant by that is obviously that there is someone with a right-wing extremist or right-wing extremist attitude. If you shorten this to “right”, the opposite of “left” is simply defamed – and with it almost everything on the other side of the political scale. You can see it that way, but it doesn’t have to be.
But it’s not about such subtleties, at least not primarily, this Thursday at the district court in Obernburg, where the Lower Franconian district president Erwin Dotzel (CSU) has to answer for insult.
Dotzel, 72, is said to have described a party friend as a “right louse” in a group chat of the CSU local association in Wörth am Main. And should there be any doubt as to whether an attribution as “right” in Dotzel’s party can be considered offensive at all, this case would be a concrete indication that this is very possible. This has already become very clear in a civil lawsuit at the regional court in Aschaffenburg, where the affected fellow party sued the district president for payment of damages of 12,750 euros.
The civil court did not agree to this five-digit monetary claim last July. However, it sentenced Dotzel to pay 750 euros and saw “a serious infringement of the plaintiff’s personal rights”.
It is true that Dotzel took back the word about the “right louse” in the local press in favor of the wording that the CSU colleague had a “right attitude”. But the civil court – “for lack of a factual reason” – rated that as “not covered by freedom of expression”. However, in favor of Dotzel it was “considerably important” that he clarified in that civil case that he did not mean the term “right-wing attitude” in a negative way – especially not in the sense of “right-wing extremist”. But as a designation for a conservative basic orientation.
He has never been more prominent with quarreling
Dotzel has been the President of the District Council for more than 14 years and is considered the friendly face of Lower Franconia. If there is something nice to celebrate somewhere on the Main, also with a wine queen, then the organizers can rely on him. Dotzel has never been more prominent with quarreling, especially of an intra-party nature. And then this: The public prosecutor’s office requests a penalty order for insult, the court complies, Dotzel is to pay 20 daily rates of 160 euros each. He objects to it. So it has to be negotiated.
In what context did the incriminating term “the right louse” come about? The Miltenberger CSU district association was looking for a digital officer in 2021 and the person who volunteered was elected with a large majority. During the election, a Whatsapp group among CSU party friends debated. And Dotzel, who is more likely to be assigned to the analogue wing of the party, is said to have contributed that one would find out “which real louse” one had “brought into the nest”. The person concerned found out about it, immediately resigned from the new volunteer position – and filed a complaint.
Dotzel, white shirt, light blue suit, has a statement read out: He has been in the CSU since 1983 and has been mayor of Wörth am Main for 30 years. seen out – exposed to attacks. But a reason for an ad? He never saw.
Dotzel admits the content of said Whatsapp. In fact, there were differences with the later short-term digital officer when there was animosity in the CSU local association. But the word from the “right louse” – typed into the cell phone after 10 p.m. – that was supposed to go exclusively to his son-in-law. If that got into the local CSU chat group, i.e. 19 people, it would have been an “accident”. He didn’t want to discredit anyone.
Whether there might be “made a louse an elephant”.
The witness, the resigned digital officer, speaks quietly behind his mask. But the fact that he and his family are still being asked about the louse issue at home and that he sees himself pushed “into a corner” where he doesn’t belong is understandable in the courtroom.
The public prosecutor does not want to assess in more detail whether “a louse is being made into an elephant”. But he considers the fact that the said Whatsapp was sent incorrectly to be an afterthought and that 20 daily rates for insult are still appropriate. The defense attorney demands acquittal, after all, a private message from a short message service was made public against the will of his client, which should not have been used at all.
The judge finally acquits Dotzel. In his opinion, the term “right louse” would have fulfilled the definition of an insult, it was demeaning, especially since it was made “from top to bottom”, i.e. from district president to local politician. The judge only assumes in favor of Dotzel that he actually only wanted to send the message with a personal address to his son-in-law – and accidentally ended up in the chat group. The judgment is not yet final, as are the civil proceedings.