“The allegations are true.” The trial against the musician Gil Ofarim ends this Tuesday with a brief confession (the stern reported). The 41-year-old has been on trial in Leipzig since the beginning of November, including on charges of false suspicion and defamation. He had accused an employee of the luxury hotel “Westin” in the trade fair city of an anti-Semitic insult in October 2021 – wrongly, as Ofarim now admits. He wanted to apologize to the hotel employee Markus W. “I’m sorry.” W. shows greatness and accepts the apology.
The trial was conducted with great seriousness from the beginning; the incident in question would have been too serious, especially in these times. The presiding judge made it clear right from the start that anti-Semitism is widespread in Germany – but that should not stand in the way of impartial taking of evidence.
As soon as the trial began, many observers in Hall 115 of the Leipzig Regional Court had the feeling that Ofarim had gotten lost in his accusation and had not found the way out. Now he has found it, albeit extremely late after more than two years. Why he invented this lie and whether it was malicious only Ofarim currently knows. Clarification is desirable.
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