The former AfD man Stefan Räpple has been sentenced to a suspended sentence and a fine by the Mainz district court. He had previously made a confession.
Stefan Räpple, who was a former AfD deputy in the Baden-Württemberg state parliament, had been accused of denigrating the state, publicly inciting criminal offenses and resisting law enforcement officers. After the trial began, Räpple, his defense attorney, the public prosecutor’s office and the court agreed to sentence Räpple to a ten-month suspended sentence if he confessed. So he did and apologized. Räpple also has to pay a fine of 2,400 euros to the children’s hospice in Mainz. The charge of disparaging the state was dropped.
In his political career, Räpple had repeatedly made headlines. For example, in December 2018, after a scandal, the MP was taken out of the state parliament in Stuttgart by the police. During the pandemic, he was also targeted by law enforcement. At an anti-corona demonstration in Mainz in September 2020, he called on the demonstrators to violently overthrow the German government.
Speech at anti-corona demonstration in Mainz
Räpple spoke at the demonstration on the banks of the Rhine in Mainz. According to the Koblenz public prosecutor’s office, he is said to have described German democracy as a “party dictatorship”. The Attorney General’s Office then filed charges.
Videos are also circulating on the Internet showing Räpple’s speech on the banks of the Rhine in Mainz. In it he says, among other things, verbatim: “First of all, we have to overthrow the government and do it by force. […] We have to force our way into the chancellery, we have to evacuate the government offices.”
Denigration of the state in YouTube video
Another charge related to a YouTube video by Räpple, in which he is also said to have made very disrespectful statements about the policies of the federal government. According to investigations by the Koblenz Public Prosecutor’s Office, he is said to have described the state as an “arbitrary state” and “last filth” in connection with the obligation to wear a face mask.
withdrawal from politics
The AfD in Baden-Württemberg wanted to exclude Räpple from the party in March 2020. The exclusion was then carried out in September 2020 by the AfD federal party – three days after his statements at the Mainz anti-corona demonstration. After public criticism, also from the ranks of the AfD, Räpple also announced his withdrawal from politics at the same time.