Berlin police are taking action against Iranian demonstrators for defamation
Demonstrators for a free Iran in Berlin can expect to be reported by the police if they denigrate the Iranian head of state, Ali Khamenei. The Berlin State Criminal Police Office is currently investigating opponents of the Iranian regime for defamation and slander against Khamenei. The Tagesspiegel newsletter Checkpoint has an advertisement. On November 25, Nik J. demonstrated with others in front of the Iranian embassy. The demonstrators roared: “Murderer Khamenei” or “Death Khamenei” – these are the shouts of the Iranian revolution.
However, the complaint against J. was not made by the Iranian embassy staff, but by the police themselves. The authorities confirmed this on request: “At meetings, banners and posters as well as chants are always checked for criminal relevance,” writes a police spokeswoman. “The aim of the Berlin police is not only to protect the meeting and its participants, but also to prevent crime and disturbances.” Apparently, local officials rated the shouts of the demonstrators as possible crimes.
The Greens politician and chairwoman of the interior committee in the Berlin House of Representatives, Gollaleh Ahmadi, criticizes the criminal charges filed by the Berlin police. “Those who take to the streets for human rights in Iran need our support, not persecution. The extent to which there is any criminal relevance at all is more than questionable,” Ahmadi told the Tagesspiegel. As a child, Ahmadi fled the regime herself with her parents.
“Who calls Iranian dictator Ali Khamenei a murderer, deserves our solidarity and no summons to the police,” adds Green politician Ario Mirzaie. He was one of the first to make the case public.
In fact, as early as 1997, a Berlin court identified Khamenei as one of the backers of an assassination attempt on the Iranian politician Shapur Bakhtiar. Videos of the killings by his Revolutionary Guards and Iran’s moral guardians are seen daily.
“We know that the mullah regime is also taking action against critics here in Berlin. Freedom of expression and assembly are among the most important pillars of a democracy,” said Ahmadi. She calls on Berlin’s Interior Senator Iris Spranger and Berlin’s Governing Mayor Franziska Giffey (both SPD) to make a clear commitment to protecting freedom of expression. Spranger did not want to comment on the ongoing proceedings when asked by the Tagesspiegel.
In the past few weeks it had several large demonstrations for the Iranian revolution in Berlin given. At the end of October, one of the largest demonstrations in the world, with 80,000 participants, passed through the government district of Berlin. People came from all over Europe. The authority could not find out how many reports the police had in total for disparaging Khamenei.