Hate propaganda and antisemitism poison the social climate and prepare the ground for a growing readiness to use violence. As democrats we must oppose both. At the same time, fierce debate is part of a free society. In doing so, however, the limits set by our legal order must be respected. Prosecuting authorities and the courts bear responsibility for defending where those limits are drawn. On this the deputy chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Hermann Gröhe MdB, and the Chairman of the Board of Werteinitiative, Dr Elio Adler, were in agreement.
Dr Adler argued in favour of making use of Section 46(2) of the German Criminal Code (StGB) in order to punish “racist, xenophobic or otherwise inhuman” motives and aims of an offender appropriately. In his view this provision constitutes a “protective shield paragraph” for human dignity and for the way we live together. Disregarding such motives and aims therefore weakens our free democratic basic order.
We thank former Federal Minister Gröhe for the cordial conversation.
