Real Madrid star Antonio Rudiger and the German Football Association (DfB) have taken legal action against media boss Julian Reichelt, accusing him of hate speech.
Reichelt, formerly Editor-in-chief of BILD digital between 2017 and 2021, accused Rudiger of making a gesture related to terrorist organisation Islamic State, also known as IS, in an Instagram post made by Rudiger.
The 31-year-old Berlin native posted on his Instagram a picture with his right finger in the air, celebrating Ramadan with the following caption.
“Ramadan Mubarak to all Muslims around the world. May the almighty accept our fasting and prayers. #AlwaysBelieve”
Reichelt responded to this with a picture of German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser wearing a ‘OneLove’ armband supporting the LGBTQIA+ community in Qatar at the 2022 World Cup, alongside a picture of Rudiger.
“We’ve been listening to this tolerance armband nonsense for years, our jerseys are suddenly pink to symbolise diversity, and then the leader of the German defence Antonio Rudiger shows the Islamists’ ISIS salute. #FRAGER”
Seit Jahren hören wir uns diesen Toleranz-Armbinden-Schwachsinn an, unsere Trikots sind plötzlich Pink, um Vielfalt zu symbolisieren, und dann zeigt der deutsche Abwehrchef Antonio Rüdiger den ISIS-Gruß der Islamisten. #FRAGER pic.twitter.com/UDwbIbrYLm
— Julian Reichelt (@jreichelt) March 23, 2024
An article was also posted in NIUS, a right-leaning outlet, of which Reichelt is part of. They also accused Rudiger of referencing the terrorist organisation, after which Rudiger and the DfB decided to elevate the matter to the authorities, as per Marca. Rudiger’s complaint accuses Reichelt of ‘insult, slander, inflammatory insult and sedition’, while the DFB accuse him of hate speech.
The following was Reichelt’s response after finding out that he was being reported for hate speech, referencing Faeser in his comments.
Soeben habe ich aus den Medien erfahren, dass Antonio Rüdiger und der DFB mich angezeigt haben, weil ich hier darauf aufmerksam gemacht habe, dass Rüdiger auf einem Instagram-Post den Gruß der Islamisten zeigt. Diese Geste ist in den letzten zwei Jahrzehnten von Terroristen… pic.twitter.com/6fX1GYN4VR
— Julian Reichelt (@jreichelt) March 25, 2024
“I just found out from the media that Antonio Rüdiger and the DFB reported me because I pointed out that Rüdiger was showing the Islamists’ salute on an Instagram post. This gesture has been completely co-opted by terrorists over the last two decades. It has undisputedly become the greeting of ISIS and Islamist murderers all over the world, of people who also murdered in Berlin and bring disaster and immeasurable suffering to the world. Anyone who shows this greeting as an adult and has liked posts by Islamists at least once in the past knows this very well.”
“The German Office for the Protection of the Constitution and its state offices see the raised finger as a sign of Islamist radicalisation. The Interior Minister calls the gesture “unacceptable.” Anyone who poses like this in public is consciously showing the greeting of fanatics and not an innocent, spiritual gesture. It is a normalisation of a terrible ideology that has already taken over far too much space in this country. Also and especially because it’s about a popular national player, you shouldn’t allow yourself to be intimidated.”
“It is important to point out that this political ideology goes against everything that our values are. What Antonio Rudiger and the DFB are using here are intimidation methods. Nobody should dare to express criticism anymore when Islamism and its symbols march forward. You must never submit to it. The raised index finger of Islamism, with which terrorists around the world celebrate their murders, does not belong to Germany. I will never allow myself to be forbidden from saying that.”
