American writer facing jail term for his satirical comments on mask mandate
An American writer who relocated to Germany some years ago now is facing up to three years in jail for violating that nation’s censorship rules.
He posted a satirical image on social media featuring a white swastika behind a white medical mask – suggesting the links between Germany’s COVID-19 policies and requirements of the government in its efforts to control the population during COVID to the government’s behaviors exhibited during the Nazi regime.
It is the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression that is reporting on the case involving CJ Hopkins, an American writer who relocated to Germany in 2004.
He’s was accused of disseminating propaganda after he posted two images on X featuring “an illustration of a white swastika behind a white medical mask,” FIRE reported.
He was acquitted in January, but government officials there refused to accept the decision and sent him to the Berlin Appellate Court, which granted government officials’ demands and reversed the lower court’s ruling.
Hopkins, in an interview with FIRE, said, “It’s been going on for what feels like forever. It does grind you down. I’m not going to stop fighting, but I’d be lying if I said I don’t get knocked down sometimes, so this is a knockdown.”
Hopkins said the appeals court reversal was expected.
“If this court had any intention of respecting the law and following the law, it would have just dismissed the prosecutor’s arguments in the first place,” he explained.
The case now is expected to return to the Tiergarten District Court, which originally acquitted him, for a sentence that could range up to three years behind bars.
He said ultimately he intends to take his case to the Federal Constitutional Court, which is similar to the U.S. Supreme Court, which could dismiss the case or allow it to move into another level of lengthy legal arguments.
He told FIRE, “I said from the beginning, I kind of feel like it’s my responsibility. A lot of people can’t afford to do this. Part of what keeps me going is, I know a lot of people out there are grateful for it.”
While America’s First Amendment would appear to protect personal opinions, including satire and parody, the governor in California, Gavin Newsom, recently signed into law a ban on political parody, prompting speech proponents to take him to court for the apparent constitutional violation.