A politician for Germany’s left-wing Green party has been fined $3,800 for faking neo-nazi hate crimes against himself.
Manoj Jansen, a former councillor for the German Greens, was handed a €3,600 (~$3,814) fine by a court in Germany on Wednesday after it was found that he had faked a number of neo-nazi hate crimes against himself.
Jansen had claimed that he was the victim of repeated far-right attacks and hate crimes, with the politician reportedly having his property vandalised and emblazoned with swastikas and SS runes by suspected neo-nazis.
However, authorities came to the conclusion that the immigration-heritage leftist politician had likely faked the alleged hate incidents last September, with some local publications have since reported that at least one of the swastikas said to have been painted onto Jansen’s car were the wrong way around.
Although the Green politician eventually did admit to faking at least some of the crimes, he and his legal council reportedly rejected attempts by authorities to fine him.
During a court hearing on Wednesday however, Bild reports that this fine has now been upheld, with Jansen reportedly dropping their objection to the punishment after a private conversation between his lawyer and the presiding judge.
Jansen is said to have made a “big show” during the hearing, however, breaking down crying during the hearing while shielding his face with printed-out newspaper articles.
The former councillor was said to have eventually been handed a handkerchief by his lawyer.
Wednesday’s court hearing appears to conclude a particularly embarrassing saga for Germany’s ruling progressives.
When the original news about the hate crimes against Jansen broke in the summer of last year, politicians across the country jumped to support the councillor, with many pointing to the incidents as evidence of a shadowy “right-wing” that aims to destroy democracy in the country.
According to Jansen at the time, his car had been vandalised by the alleged neo-nazis, who painted a large swastika on one of his car doors, with the politician also allegedly receiving threatening letters in the mail.
A swastika and an SS rune also were painted by extremists on the front door of his home.
However, it soon became apparent that Jansen himself had been responsible for many of the incidents, and although it is believed that the politician’s car was indeed vandalised, the swastika was incorrectly painted onto the door by the politician himself.
The other hateful symbols scrawled onto Jansen’s residence are also believed to have been done by the politician.
“He said his bike was stolen, the window of his car was smashed and the tires were deflated,” one local green spokesman said. “He probably did everything else himself.”
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