Focus Magazine has run a piece about a Remix News article that garnered quite a lot of attention due to Naomi Seibt sharing a screengrab of our headline on X and then Elon Musk commenting on that post.
Just to bring everyone up to speed in case they missed everything, the Remix News article had to do with a case of a 30-year-old Syrian being convicted of raping a 15-year-old girl. The Syrian was given a suspended sentence, so he did not serve any prison time, and he received a €3,000 fine. The judge praised his “integration” into Germany, which factored into why he gave the Syrian a lighter sentence. After the trial, one German citizens did not like the judge’s verdict and was hit with a €5,000 fine for “insulting” the judge in an email. This fine was later reduced. You can read the whole thing here.
Just a disclaimer, Remix News played a very minor role in this whole affair, and our article was not even directly shared in the initial posts on this topic, merely a screengrab of it. Nevertheless, it is worth addressing the Focus piece, since we are directly mentioned.
For starters, Focus does not link to the Remix News article or Seibt’s tweet, which is likely designed to allow Focus greater narrative control. So, here is the tweet, including with Musk’s response.
The Focus Magazine piece is, quite simply, full of misleading claims and smears. First, the journalist falsely attacks the Remix News headline, writing: “Firstly, the headline clearly suggests that a man who verbally criticized a German judge’s decision on a rape received a sentence twice as severe as that of the Syrian who raped a 15-year-old girl. But this is, as expressed in the headline, false.”
Not to be overly rude, but this journalist appears to have a problem with reading comprehension. Here is the actual Remix News headline: “Germany: Man criticizes judge who fined Syrian for raping 15-year-old girl, gets fined twice as much.”
At no point in this headline do we suggest the man received “a sentence twice as severe as that of the Syrian who raped a 15-year-old girl,” as the Focus journalist falsely claims. Instead, the Remix News piece literally says he received twice the “fine” as the Syrian.
Then, this journalist has the audacity to bring up the fact that the Syrian was sentenced to two years in prison as some kind of “gotcha” while also quickly acknowledging that this “prison sentence” was a suspended sentence. Yes, there was no actual prison. He basically got probation for raping a minor.
It is fair to say the journalist probably is not going to win over many to his argument so far, but let us, read an excerpt from the original Focus piece covering the Syrian’s case: “Later he pushed her against a wall, groped her and did not let go of the girl even when she fled into a stairwell. He finally raped the girl using violence. The man could not explain his actions.”
We’re sorry to break it to Focus, but most normal people find this judicial sentence very strange. Usually, when a drunken 30-year-old man sexually assaults a 15-year-old girl with “violence,” people expect more consequences than a suspended sentence. What if it was your mother? If you had a wife or a daughter, imagine it was them. Would you be satisfied with this verdict?
One could almost assume — almost — that this journalist has more problems with Seibt criticizing this Syrian’s conviction sentencing than the actual rape itself, but surely that is not the case.
Seibt actually responds to the journalist in a clip she posted to X, which addresses many of the critiques we also outline in our response to Focus.
Focus is also attempting to smear Seibt because she did not include the specific detail that the Syrian was given a suspended sentence.
“Seibt’s post does not mention that the Syrian was also sentenced to two years in prison by the youth court in Osnabrück. The sentence was suspended for several reasons. Among other things, because according to the reasons for the verdict, which FOCUS online has obtained, it was a rape ‘at the lower end’ in terms of the violence used and the harm done to the victim,” he writes.
In fact, if she had put that information in her original post, it is safe to say that people would hold an even more negative view of the prison sentence, but that is up to the reader to decide.
From our end, this all looks like a very desperate attempt by this journalist to explain — while tying himself in knots — why the judge’s sentence was reasonable, but many Germans see a case where the Syrian got off far too lightly for an actual physical violation of a young girl.
Actually, Seibt also covered this, saying the man was given probation in later posts, and ultimately, it is a tweet. She is not going to cover every last aspect of the case in a simple tweet. For those who want to know more, they can read the source material. Even if she had not covered every detail in this case, the fact, our in our opinion, still just as outrageous.
In Focus’ attempt to paint Siebt and Musk as far right, the media outlet almost comes across sounding far right in its own right. In some circles of the extreme far right, the idea that you should be able to rape with little to no consequence is promoted. Obviously, this Syrian did pay consequences, but paying a fine for raping a minor without actually doing any prison time is questionable. The MeToo movement, which progressive journalists are supposed to be fully on-board with, posits that men are not supposed to flirt with co-workers in an unwanted manner. They can lose their jobs and professional reputations, and in some cases, when it goes too far, even face criminal consequences. What this Syrian did went far beyond what any progressive went far beyond unwanted flirting and even sexual harassment.
Another misleading statement was made by Focus, with the outlet writing; “What the report does not say is that the headline refers exclusively to two fines imposed. The public prosecutor’s office fined the man 5,000 euros for the “defamatory manner” in which he described the Osnabrück judge as “obviously mentally disturbed” in an email to the district court, reported the online portal “Nius.” The Syrian, on the other hand, was sentenced to pay the victim 3,000 euros in compensation for pain and suffering,”
Actually, we mentioned both fines. Did he read our article?
The Focus journalist also notes that Seibt did not mention in her post that the fine was reduced. Well, again, it’s a tweet, and a link to the source she used, our publication, was provided in the replies, which she also commented on. The original Remix News article contains within the article the fact that the fine was reduced; however, this reduction only happened after an appeal. The original fine was indeed higher than the fine given to the Syrian rapist, and in the end, it was lower. Again, the Remix News article clearly states this information.
What we did not mention in our first article and which neither the Focus journalist nor Seibt mention is that this German man who “insulted” the judge also likely had legal fees to pay. The reason we did not mention this is because it is speculation and not a detail mentioned in the original NIUS source article. However, if we just go by averages, lawyers cost around €290 an hour in Germany, which means this man who wrote an email calling the judge “mentally ill,” for his verdict likely had thousands of euros in legal fees. Notably, he also filed an appeal in the case, which means his lawyer performed a significant amount of legal work defending him. What did he pay in the end in legal fees? We have no idea, but it is fair to say it was not cheap.
We can only speculate about the Syrian in this case, but in Germany, many migrants do not pay their own legal fees for representation, often due to the fact that they have little money to begin with.
The main elements of this case that are outrageous are that this Syrian raped anyone at all, that the girl was a minor, that the judge claimed the Syrian was integrating well in Germany — and yes, a compliment during a rape trial is bizarre even if he is not referring to the rape but the specific conduct of the Syrian in general. Furthermore, that no jail time was given to a 30-year-old man — not even a week — will certainly leave some scratching their heads.
Judging by many of the comments on the Focus piece, at least some people share a similar view.
There is a strong progressive sentiment in the legal profession that people do deserve second chances, especially for minor offenses, and this is often a noble sentiment and in many cases, such a stance may be warranted. However, this is a sexual assault case involving two people of vastly different ages, two total strangers, and a man who used force multiple times as this girl tried to run away to sexually assault her. Not only was the sentence light in many people’s eyes, but a man “insulting” the judge by calling him “mentally ill” should be an issue left to freedom of speech.
This is especially the case in a country where you can openly threaten politicians with force and attacks at their home, and get off completely on the grounds of freedom of expression, as the case of Peter Fischer shows. In fact, Fischer, who is a public figure, appears to promote open violence. Where is his fine? There is a two-tier justice system in Germany and it is becoming nakedly apparent.
Seibt may not be a popular figure with the left or the journalists at Focus, but the case she drew attention to illustrates the trend of speech being prosecuted in Germany when the “wrong” person is “insulated,” along with what many believe is a judicial system that is no longer sufficiently protecting Germans from growing serious crime, with the share of foreigners among these crimes reaching a record high in 2023.
Labeling Seibt and Musk “far right conspiracy theorists” will, unsurprisingly, only lead more and more people to question these blanket smears and start to wonder if the so-called “far right conspiracy theorists” actually have some pretty good points and maybe — just maybe — are not actually “far-right” after all.
The same process on many levels just played out in the United States, and much to the shock of the German establishment, Donald Trump is now the president-elect.
