In the 13 October 2021, the two comrades JO and DY have been sentenced to prison for 5 years ans 6 months and 4 years and 6 months by the court of Stuttgart, Germany.
They have been accused for the beating of a group of fascists on 16. May 2020. This group called “Zentrum Automobil” is a fascist association that is trying to undermine syndicalist organization within the factory of Daimler (Mercedes Benz), while spreading racist and fascist ideology. They are well connected with AfD, Identitarian Movement as well as Blood and Honor and other Nazi groups. In the beginning of 2020, they were starting to organize together with the “Querdenken 711” movement, a far right mob of anti-vax protesters. They were appearing with German reich’s war flag and other fascist symbols as we have seen them in previous movements of the right. Sometimes they managed to bring up to 10.000 people on the streets which gave the breeding ground for fascist ideology to spread.
Some antifascist groups took the initiative to directly resist against this threat. There was counter protest, sharing of texts and posters, outings of well known fascists and sabotage actions. Multiple times, the fascists got attacked in the areas around their demonstrations, so on 16. May 2020 the meeting point of “Zentrum Automobil” was attacked. Multiple Nazis got injured in this attack. One of them seriously. Afterwards the cops started an investigation against the antifascist movement in which they accused JO and DY for participating in the attack. Although in the trial they could not prove anything and the whole trial is built up on clues, the two comrades were sentenced guilty . We know that this trial is a political trial, although the court is trying to hide that. Nevertheless, the accused did never show any regret and defended their political views in front of the court.
The judgment is a political decision of a state that is trying to suppress antifascist engagement and wants to send a message to the movement. It is the first conviction in a bigger offensive of the state against the antifascist movement in Germany. There are upcoming courts and ongoing investigations against Antifas in Dresden, Leipzig, Nuernberg, Berlin, Weimar and other cities.
