Alternative for Germany (AfD) politician Marie-Thérèse Kaiser has now been convicted for publishing gang rape statistics in response to news that Afghan migrants would be moved to her district.
The 27-year-old politician was found guilty in the Verden regional court in Lower Saxony on Monday for “inciting hatred” against local Afghan workers.
She is ordered to pay a fine of €6,000 and being charged €60 a day for 100 days. She will also have a criminal record.
The case relates back to a post from August 2021, in which she made a post on social media, writing: “Afghanistan refugees; Hamburg SPD mayor for ‘unbureaucratic’ admission; Welcoming culture for gang rape?”
The politician linked an article showing that Afghans in Germany feature particularly high levels of gang rape activity. Kaiser was responding in 2021 to Hamburg’s First Mayor, Peter Tschentscher (SPD), who announced that 200 Afghan workers would be arriving in Hamburg. Kaiser protested this decision with her statistics, saying she was concerned about immigration and the potential for rape from “culturally alien masses.”
Kaiser had perhaps mistakenly believed resorting to data would protect her, which shows that foreigners are represented in half of all gang rape cases, according to official government statistics. Afghans’ roles in serious crimes, including rape and gang rape, are tremendously high relative to their population.
The case has sparked international attention, with major X accounts reacting to the news of the conviction, including X’s owner, Elon Musk, with at least two of the posts generating over 40 million views.
Others pointed to statistics showing the vast overrepresentation of Afghans in serious rape offenses.
The AfD politician was defiant during the appeal process, writing on X before the most recent verdict: “My appeal hearing for alleged incitement will take place at the beginning of May. Simply naming numbers, dates and facts is to be declared a criminal offense, just because the establishment does not want to face reality. I will not allow myself to be silenced,” she wrote.
However, despite freedom of speech protections in Germany, Judge Heiko Halbfas still found Kaiser guilty, stating that “anyone who attacks human dignity cannot invoke freedom of expression.”
Kaiser’s statements allegedly led to hatred of a nationally determined group, according to the judge.
The AfD is rallying around Kaiser, with Gabrielle Mailbeck, a fellow female AfD politician representing Schwaben, writing: “They are trying to silence our Marie. But this woman cannot be tamed. (She) stands up for her homeland to the end, come what may… It seems that our patriotism is being punished and that we are no longer allowed to express our opinion about Germany. Didn’t you know that loving and respecting Germany is forbidden? The background to this verdict? Facts.”
