On Monday, Professor Ulrich Kutschera from Kassel was interviewed based on his statements “kath.net” sentenced. The judge at the Kassel District Court saw the offense of insulting and imposed a fine of 6000 Euro. It remains to be seen, whether the public prosecutor or Kutschera's defense will appeal the judgment.
Kutschera and his lawyer after the conviction
Those: press department
On the second day of the process, the Criminal proceedings against the Kassel professor decided and sentenced the defendant to a fine for insulting. In the first instance judgment, however, the indictment of sedition was dismissed.
So the court saw the utterances of Kuchera not covered by the freedom of science and judged them to be appropriate, to condemn homosexual people collectively. However, there is a lack of sufficient public impact, to justify the criminal offense of sedition.
The procedure and the insulting statements of Kutschera are not only the focus of the Kassel public. The professor's case was discussed nationwide and even the Hessian Minister of Science saw it as its duty to take a critical position at the end of the process. Also the President of the University of Kassel reiterated, that “Discrimination and offense against minorities” do not belong to the university. The disciplinary proceedings against Kutschera are currently on hold until the verdict of the criminal proceedings is final.
Kutschera receives political support in the process room from AfD and CDU members
Those: press department
In the trial room itself, however, the professor primarily found political support during the proceedings. The North Hessian state parliament member of the AfD Gerhard Schenk had arrived, who accompanied the trial days together with members of the Kassel AfD district association. This specific connection does not seem surprising in view of Kutschera's membership in the board of trustees of the AfD-affiliated Desiderius Erasmus Foundation
It was more surprising against it, that Valentino Lipardi, Chairman of the CDU Niederzwehren and the reservist comradeship in Kassel, accompanied the Kutschera trial in solidarity with the AfD. The first lieutenant and head of the district association had previously defended the former CDU city councilor Jörg Hildebrandt, after this due to his racist facebook posts had been criticized.
Up to 100 People gathered in front of the court during the day of the trial
Those: press department
Against the homophobia and right-wing activities of the Kassel professor, protests were made on the street in front of the district court. Again gathered around 100 people. The Kassel AStA and the autonomous * queer unit had called and announced the outcome of the process opinion an.
The mood about the judgment itself remained ambivalent on site. In addition to the low sentence, the question arose here, to what extent the content of the process is not primarily one for the political debate, instead of for the state judiciary.