A left-wing parliamentarian in Germany has openly voiced his support for an Antifa activist convicted on Wednesday of being involved in a gang that violently attacked people with hammers.
Ferat Koçak, a Berlin parliamentarian for the Die Linke party, has openly voiced his support for Lina E., a violent Antifa extremist who has now been convicted of being a member of a gang that perpetrated numerous violent attacks on right-wingers.
The unnamed Antifa gang reportedly conducted numerous attacks on individuals and groups perceived as being part of Germany’s extreme right, using hammers and clubs to inflict sometimes life-threatening injuries on numerous individuals.
One individual set upon by the group was reportedly targeted due to the hat he was wearing, which was perceived as being designed by a right-wing clothing company.
According to a report by Die Welt, a court in Dresden has now handed a sentence of over five years in prison to the activist, who was supported by a significant number of far-left activists both inside and outside the courtroom.
Elements of Germany’s political elite also came out in support of the violent extremist, with Koçak writing online that he was outraged at her conviction, seemingly arguing that Lina E.’s brutal attacks were ultimately justified because they were political acts.
“Solidarity with #LinaE,” he posted on Twitter. “Anyone who organizes against Nazis is not criminal but will be criminalized! This shows once again how little Germany has learned from its own history.”
The far-left politician went on to push for an end to what he called the “criminalization of antifascism”.
Other elements of Germany’s far-left made themselves heard during the Dresden court hearing itself, disrupting proceedings in order to accuse the judge of being a friend of “fascists” and call for “fucking class justice”.
Germany’s more mainstream parties have tried to distance themselves from the violence, with even Antifa-linked Interior Minister Nancy Faeser reportedly expressing concern about what she described as an increasingly dangerous far-left scene in the country.
“In left-wing extremist groups, inhibitions have fallen to attack political opponents with extreme brutality,” the minister reportedly said after the court’s verdict on Wednesday.
“In a democratic constitutional state, there must be no room for vigilantism,” she added.
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