suspected extremism
Police are investigating Ballermann singer Melanie Müller
Pop singer Melanie Müller is being investigated on suspicion of extremism. photo
© Bodo Schackow/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa
Forbidden right gesture or harmless request to the audience? A performance by Ballermann singer Melanie Müller called the police into action. The 34-year-old defends herself against allegations.
The police in Leipzig are investigating the Ballermann singer Melanie Müller (34). “It’s about the suspicion of using license plates of unconstitutional organizations under paragraph 86a of the Criminal Code,” said a police spokeswoman on Thursday morning when asked. Such characteristics can be flags, badges, pieces of uniform, slogans and forms of greeting. The State Protection Department of the Leipzig Criminal Police Department is dealing with the case.
Specifically, it is about a video that was available to “Bild”, in which it should be seen how the singer raises her right arm a few times during a performance in Leipzig in mid-September. “The video is now being evaluated intensively,” emphasized the spokeswoman. She did not want to give any further details. The question to be clarified is whether this is the so-called Hitler salute or a harmless, inviting gesture to the audience.
Regarding the allegations, Müller told the “Bild” on Wednesday: “I’ve been on stage for eleven years and always make these hand movements. Not from a right-wing extremist background, but “Zicke zacke zicke zacke”, exactly the way I do it there .”
Statement posted on Instagram
On Instagram, the singer posted another statement on Wednesday evening: “I repeat again: I have nothing to do with right-wing radicals or nationalist ideas. I strongly condemn that.” The malicious allegations went to her substance and she was physically in pretty bad shape right now. Therefore, she will withdraw a little for the next few days, recover and try to process the whole thing. At the request of the dpa, the singer referred to her statement on social media on Thursday.
Only on Tuesday did Müller distance himself from right-wing extremist statements that could be heard in the audience on another video from the same performance. She was “dismayed and outraged,” the 34-year-old said. She canceled the performance on September 17 after the right-wing slogans from the audience. The Leipzig police are also investigating in this case. The singer had canceled a performance in Dresden planned for Wednesday.
Born in Oschatz, Saxony, Müller won the eighth season of “I’m a Star – Get Me Out of Here!” in 2014. and in 2021 the ninth season of “Celebrity Big Brother”. She also sings in the Bierkönig and Oberbayern discotheques on Mallorca and performs at booked events.