Gil Ofarim: Investigators re-enact events in the Hotel Westin Leipzig

Anti-Semitism allegations
Ofarim case: Investigators re-enact events in the Hotel Westin Leipzig

In the course of the investigation in connection with the anti-Semitism allegations of the singer Gil Ofarim against an employee of a Leipzig hotel, investigators re-enacted the incident on site. That was recorded on Monday by the surveillance cameras and handed over to an expert for assessment, announced chief prosecutor Ricardo Schulz on Tuesday. The “Spiegel” had previously reported.

Ofarim had described in a video at the beginning of October that an employee of “The Westin Leipzig” had asked him to remove his necklace with a Star of David. Ofarim made a complaint.

The decision to recreate the case was made after evaluating and appraising the results of the report, which has been available since mid-November, said Chief Public Prosecutor Schulz. Part of this was examining the video footage from the hotel’s surveillance cameras. “The expert will now supplement his existing report with the new findings and the conclusions that can be drawn from the expert’s point of view,” said Schulz. People who were directly involved at the time would not have participated in the re-enactment.

Gil Ofarim: Investigative authorities are silent

The Public Prosecutor did not comment on any further details. The investigating authorities will only comment on an overall assessment and the knowledge gained up to that point after the comprehensive investigation has been completed. When and with what result the investigation could not be said at the moment.

Gil Ofarim is the son of the Israeli musician Abi Ofarim (1937-2018). The Leipzig public prosecutor’s office has also received several reports of the incident – including from the hotel employee accused of defamation.

dpa