Libel trial in Leipzig
Technicians in the Ofarim trial: surveillance videos were not manipulated
Musician Gil Ofarim in the dock in the Leipzig regional court. The 41-year-old has to answer there because of allegations of defamation and false suspicions
© Hendrik Schmidt / DPA
In the trial against the Jewish musician Gil Ofarim, a technician ruled out manipulation of the surveillance videos in the luxury hotel in Leipzig. Manipulation is “unthinkable”.
In the trial against the Jewish musician Gil Ofarim for defamation and false suspicions, a technician ruled out manipulation of the surveillance videos in the hotel. According to instructions from the police, he took over the original data from the system a few days after the incident in the luxury hotel in Leipzig, a security technician said in the regional court on Wednesday Leipzig. “Manipulation is unthinkable,” emphasized the 51-year-old.
At the beginning of October 2021, the musician made serious allegations of anti-Semitism against a manager of the Leipzig hotel in an Instagram video. Ofarim should take off his Star of David and only then could he check in, the man is said to have said, according to the singer. However, after extensive investigations by the public prosecutor’s office, charges were brought against Ofarim himself. The case against the hotel manager was dropped.
Ofarim trial: Hotel employees are said to have had access to video recordings
In addition to him as an administrator, certain hotel employees also had access to the server room with the video recordings, the technician explained. As a self-employed entrepreneur, he installed the system in the hotel about 15 years ago. Numerous recordings from the surveillance videos were shown on Wednesday. There are no sound recordings.
Trial in Leipzig
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The defense criticized the fact that these recordings had already been shown to witnesses during the hotel’s internal investigations before the police investigation. However, when asked, the security technician was unable to say how and when this might have happened. The forensic report on the video recordings should follow in the afternoon. The court hopes that this will provide precise information about the procedure and, among other things, the defendant’s clothing.