Tag: police state

Germany’s Free Speech Crackdown: AfD Thuringia State Chairman Björn Höcke Fined $35,000 for Saying “Everything for Germany”

In Germany, free speech is under siege, and the latest victim is Björn Höcke, the chair of the Alternative for Germany (AfD)’s Thuringian state branch. Höcke, a true patriot fighting for his nation’s self-determination, achieved AfD’s inaugural first-place finish in a state election.

Höcke was slapped with fines totaling around $35,000 for simply uttering the phrase “Alles für Deutschland” – “Everything for Germany” – in public speeches.

The ruling parties in Germany have been weaponizing the judicial system against the AfD, and this latest outrageous ruling from the Federal Judicial Court seeks to silence patriots who dare to put their country first.

Höcke’s troubles began in 2021 when he ended a rally speech in Merseburg with the words, inspiring crowds with a call to national pride. Prosecutors claimed the slogan echoes Nazi-era, leading to his first conviction and a €13,000 fine in May 2024.

He faced a second trial for a 2023 event in Gera, where he prompted the audience to complete the phrase, resulting in another €16,900 penalty.

The slogan “Alles für Deutschland,” however, has deep roots in German history. Originating in the 16th century, it became a rallying cry in the 19th century for national unity during the Unification Movement.

King Ludwig I of Bavaria famously used it in an 1848 proclamation, declaring “Everything for my people! Everything for Germany!” to inspire his people during revolutionary times.

The Nazis later co-opted the phrase as the paramilitary SA Storm Division’s motto, engraving it on daggers and belts, which is the basis for the judicial ruling against Höcke, despite the fact that Social Democrat and Christian freedom fighters were using the slogan in opposition to the Nazi Party.

Post-World War II, during the Marshall Plan era, the slogan returned to symbolize dedication to national recovery amid economic revival.

Keep reading

Three people arrested after investigation into man’s suicide uncovers alleged euthanasia ring

Three people have been arrested after police busted an alleged euthanasia drug trafficking ring while investigating a man’s suicide. 

Queensland Police began investigating after the Coroner revealed the cause of death for a 43-year-old man on Hope Island, on the Gold Coast, on April 11.

Toxicology results found he had died from pentobarbitone, also known as pentobarbital – a Schedule 2 drug used by vets to euthanise animals.

Detectives spent the following months investigating the man’s health, care and treatment in the time before his death, before three people were arrested on Monday.

A 53-year-old man, accused of supplying the pentobarbitone, was charged with two counts of aiding suicide and one count each of trafficking in dangerous drugs, possessing dangerous drugs and receiving or possessing property obtained from trafficking or supplying.

He is due to reappear at Southport Magistrates Court on 18 September.

An 81-year-old woman was charged with one count each of aiding suicide, trafficking dangerous drugs, possession of dangerous drugs and sale of potential harmful things.

Keep reading

“It’s A Sign Of Oppression!” – Austria Plans Headscarf Ban For Girls Under-14 In Schools

The Austrian government will move ahead this week with plans to ban headscarves for girls under 14 in schools, a measure officials frame as promoting equality.

In an interview with Bild cited by Welt, Integration Minister Claudia Plakolm of the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) said, “I want girls, regardless of their religion, to have the same opportunities in our free and Western society. And that’s why I see the headscarf for girls under 14 as a sign of oppression.”

The proposed law sets out a staged response to violations: first, a conversation with the girl concerned, then with her parents, followed by possible involvement of youth welfare authorities. Repeated breaches could result in administrative penalties. Plakolm stressed that the measure would apply only in schools and educational institutions, not in public spaces.

“Public space is rightly a very well-protected area, and that’s something that probably wouldn’t stand up in a constitutional court,” she said.

The minister also linked the proposal to broader changes in Austria’s migration and integration policy.

She said the government plans a “three-year integration phase” for asylum seekers and migrants, during which they will receive only an integration allowance rather than full social benefits.

“There will be no social assistance during this integration phase, but only an integration allowance, and the amount will depend on how willing people are to fulfill their integration obligations,” Plakolm explained.

The move follows an announcement made by Education Minister Christoph Wiederkehr (NEOS) in June for newly arriving children and teenagers to undergo a one-semester integration course prior to starting school.

Under the new system, children will first attend a semester-long orientation class where they will acquire basic German language skills to facilitate communication, fundamental school skills, such as writing, using scissors, and following classroom etiquette, and social values, including respect, equality, and tolerance.

The opposition Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) insisted the move manages the symptoms and fails to address the root cause of mass immigration.

A previous headscarf ban in elementary schools, introduced in 2019 by a coalition of conservatives and the Freedom Party, was struck down by Austria’s Constitutional Court. Plakolm argued that the new version comes with accompanying measures aimed at helping young women live self-determined lives. She emphasized that “the new law is not a measure against Islam.”

Keep reading

Marco Rubio: U.S. Will ‘Respond Accordingly’ to Brazil Jailing Jair Bolsonaro

Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a statement on Thursday, immediately following the news that former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro had been sentenced to 27 years in prison, vowing that America would “respond accordingly” to what he deemed a human rights abuse.

Bolsonaro, a conservative who governed from 2018 to 2022 after suffering a debilitating assassination attempt that continues to cause severe health problems today, stood accused before the Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF) of Brazil of attempting and failing to stage a coup following his defeat in the 2022 election. Bolsonaro lost that election narrowly to incumbent socialist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, whose participation in that election many Brazilians challenge as illegitimate given his conviction on corruption charges in 2017. The STF overturned Lula’s conviction on dubious procedural grounds and its election oversight analog, the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE), heavily censored the Bolsonaro campaign while allowing Lula to spuriously disparage Bolsonaro as a “cannibal” and a “pedophile.”

The STF and TSE’s interference in the election, both under the auspices of Justice Alexandre de Moraes, prompted many Bolsonaro supporters in Brazil and around the world to question the integrity of Lula’s victory. The STF turned these questions into a prosecution of Bolsonaro and several others in his inner circle, who it claimed had attempted to violently overthrow the Lula administration following the president’s inauguration.

Keep reading

Tens of thousands protest against legal crackdown on Turkey’s main opposition party

Tens of thousands of people protested in the capital Ankara on Sunday against a court case that could oust the head of the main opposition on Monday after a year-long legal crackdown on hundreds of its members.

Live footage showed crowds chanting for President Tayyip Erdogan’s resignation while waving Turkish flags and party banners.

The court decision on Monday whether to invalidate the 2023 congress of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) over alleged procedural irregularities could reshape the party, rattle financial markets and influence the timing of a general election set for 2028. The court could also delay the ruling.

Speaking at Sunday’s rally, CHP leader Ozgur Ozel said the government was trying to cling to power by undermining democratic norms and suppressing dissent following opposition victories in local elections over the past year.

Ozel also called for a snap general election.

TURKISH OPPOSITION VOWS TO RESIST

“This case is political. The accusations are slander. Our comrades are innocent. What’s being done is a coup — a coup against the future president, against the future government. We will resist, we will resist, we will resist,” Ozel said in his address to the crowd.

Keep reading

US lawmakers introduce ‘thought police’ bill to strip citizens of passports over Israel criticism

A US congressman is introducing a bill that could potentially be used to deny US citizens the right to travel based solely on their speech, including for criticism of Israel, the Intercept reported on 13 September.

Introduced by Florida Congressman Brian Mast, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the bill would grant Secretary of State Marco Rubio the power to revoke the passports of US citizens in the same way he has revoked the green cards and visas of foreign nationals in the US for criticizing Israel.

In March, Secretary of State Rubio revoked the visa of Turkish doctoral student Rumeysa Ozturk after she wrote an opinion piece critical of Israel in the Tufts University student newspaper in 2024. 

The op-ed did not mention Hamas, but called for boycotting and divesting from Israel.

One section of the bill grants the Secretary of State the ability to deny passports to people determined to have “knowingly aided, assisted, abetted, or otherwise provided material support to an organization the Secretary has designated as a foreign terrorist organization.”

The reference to “material support” disturbs civil liberties advocates because it is vague and can be interpreted to include speech and anti-war activism.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which functions as a front for Israeli intelligence in the US, and the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law suggested in a letter last year that Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) was providing “material support” for Hamas by organizing campus protests against Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.

The provision regarding material support to terrorism poses a threat specifically to journalists, The Intercept noted.

Keep reading

German farmer investigated over gift from Russia

A farmer is facing criminal prosecution in Germany over receiving a small Easter gift from a Russian friend. The man is now accused of violating sanctions and could face up to five years behind bars.

A public prosecutor’s office in the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania confirmed on Friday that a criminal case had indeed been opened against a local man on suspicion of violating the restrictions.

The case dates back several months, to when a German customs office intercepted a small package which was sent to the farmer from Russia. According to the broadcaster NDR, the package contained a piece of soap, a wooden figurine, and a CD – worth less than €27 ($32) in total. All of the items were on the sanctions list, the report said, adding that the customs office had confiscated the package and a probe was opened into it.

The farmer, who has been identified as Rudolf Denissen by NDR, could face between three months and five years of imprisonment if found guilty. The prosecutor’s office also requested an official written statement from him, as well as “complete personal details and information on net monthly income.”

Keep reading

Harry Miller Accused of Hate Crime – for Tweet Celebrating Dismissal of Trans Police Officer Who Stalked Him

Harry Miller, a former police officer who now campaigns for free speech, was accused of a hate crime by police for a tweet celebrating the dismissal of a trans police officer who had stalked him. The Telegraph has the story.

Harry Miller, a former police officer who now campaigns for free speech, was questioned under caution by Lincolnshire Police for a tweet welcoming the officer’s removal.

Mr Miller had been the victim of a sustained campaign of harassment by Lynsay Watson, a transgender constable with the Leicestershire force who was the complainant behind the arrest last week of Graham Linehan, the comedy writer.

Watson was sacked for gross misconduct in October 2023 after being found guilty of sending more than 1,200 messages to Mr Miller over an 18-month period, branding him a “Nazi”, a “bigot” and “wife beater”.

Mr Miller, who set up the Fair Cop campaign group to remove politics from policing, posted a tweet welcoming the decision. However, in November 2024, more than a year later, he was accused of having committed a criminal offence over the wording of the tweet and questioned under caution.

He was accused of having impersonated the Chief Constable of Leicestershire Police in his online remarks, seemingly because the offending tweet began: “Statement re the dismissal of PC Watson from @leicspolice”. The detective sergeant who interviewed him suggested the post read as though it was a statement being issued on behalf of Leicestershire Police.

Mr Miller was also accused of misgendering Watson in an article he had written about his stalking ordeal for the Critic magazine.

He was informed he was being questioned on suspicion of a breach of the Online Safety Act, which makes it a criminal offence to send a message knowing it to be false and intending it cause non-trivial psychological or physical harm without a reasonable excuse.

The Online Safety Act gained Royal Assent on October 26th 2023, the day before Mr Miller posted the tweet, but did not become law until January 31st last year, so could not have been applied in this case.

Mr Miller was subsequently released with no further action.

Keep reading

6 more officers fired over handling of domestic violence-fueled triple homicide in South Florida

A South Florida sheriff’s office has fired six more deputies and disciplined 11 others for their handling of the case of Mary Gingles, a woman who investigators say was murdered by her estranged husband after she had warned officers for months that she feared he would kill her. Two officers had previously been dismissed for their role in the case.

An internal investigation found that multiple Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies failed to properly investigate Gingles’ reports of domestic violence perpetrated by her husband, Nathan Gingles, before he allegedly carried out the triple homicide of his wife, her father, David Ponzer, and her neighbor Andrew Ferrin, as the Gingles’ four-year-old daughter begged her father to stop.

Nathan Gingles has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.

The killings – despite Mary Gingles’ repeated pleas for help – have shaken the South Florida community of Tamarac and ignited fresh scrutiny of officers’ failure to use the state’s red flag law to remove firearms from a person deemed a danger to themselves or others.

Following through on threats that Mary Gingles had repeatedly reported, on Feb. 16, 2025, Nathan Gingles fatally shot his father-in-law as he was drinking coffee on the back patio of the family’s home, before chasing Mary down the street and killing her and Ferrin, a neighbor whose home she fled to, according to investigators.

“We had multiple opportunities to protect Mary during the months preceding her death when she alerted us to the domestic violence she was experiencing. The deputies and detectives assigned to investigate these cases failed their training and, ultimately, failed to handle Mary’s repeated cries for help with the urgency required,” Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony said in a statement.

According to an investigation by the Miami Herald, in the year leading up to her murder, Mary Gingles had confided in friends, family and law enforcement officers that she feared her estranged husband would kill her.

He repeatedly violated restraining orders barring him from the family’s home, terrorizing his wife by putting a tracker on her car and leaving a backpack full of supplies like duct tape and zip ties in the garage, the investigation found.

Gingles’ alleged behavior in the months leading up to the killings was consistent with what experts say are known risk factors for further abuse, including deadly violence. More female intimate partners are killed by firearms than by all other means combined, according to a Department of Justice analysis of a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“One of the most crucial steps to prevent lethal violence is to disarm abusers and keep them disarmed,” the Justice Department’s report stated.

Keep reading

US Condemns Prosecution of Finnish Lawmaker Over Bible Verse Tweet

Finland’s prosecution of Päivi Räsänen has drawn sharp condemnation from the US State Department, which labeled the charges “baseless” and included a Bible verse in a rare public gesture of support.

This comes as Finland’s Supreme Court prepares to hear a case widely regarded as a test of whether expressing religious beliefs can be treated as a criminal act in a democratic nation.

The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor made its position clear on X, stating: “In a democracy, no one should face trial for peacefully sharing their beliefs. The case against Finnish MP Päivi Räsänen, which accuses her of hate speech for simply posting a Bible verse, is baseless, as two courts have unanimously found.”

The post included a verse from Matthew 5:11: “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.”

Keep reading