For a moment, the scene seems like it was back when the protests against the Corona measures magnetically attracted public interest. This time too, all eyes and cameras are on Michael Ballweg, who speaks of an “important day for Germany”. That he stands up for nothing less than basic human rights and civil liberties. “That’s why I’m setting a shining example.” As in the days of the demo, on this day, which is so important for him, he wears a black hoodie with the inscription “World Peace 01”, underneath a T-shirt with the sentence: “Freedom is made of courage”.
In contrast to before, the 49-year-old does not speak on the Schlossplatz in Stuttgart or in front of the Victory Column in Berlin, but in a poorly lit hallway of the Stuttgart regional court. According to the indictment, he is said to have diverted a significant portion of the donations for his “Lateral Thinking 711” movement for private purposes. The public prosecutor’s office therefore accuses him of particularly serious fraud in 9,450 cases.
The great anti-corona boom is over
Ballweg is still seen in the scene as a kind of symbolic figure of the Corona protests; it was only in August that a demonstration he organized in Berlin attracted around 12,000 participants. The really big boom still seems to be over. Instead of criticizing mask requirements and vaccinations, he is now focusing his appeals on peace and freedom, which sounds less catchy and less suitable for the masses. His internet call to please appear in large numbers at the trial in Stuttgart and to document the proceedings to ensure that they proceeded correctly (“exact notes of the trial, observation of the gestures and facial expressions of the judges, reports of experiences on site, abnormalities in the proceedings”) largely falls flat . So on this rainy day, just over a dozen supporters make their way into the court through police presence and security scanners, no sign of posters or chants.
Instead, the public prosecutor’s office presents a complex set of figures to the Chamber of Commerce, behind which lies the accusation that Ballweg took advantage of his popularity during the Corona protests to “deliberately untruthfully” call for donations and appropriate them privately. The defendant is said to have “acquired a sum of over one million euros from at least 9,450 people,” as the public prosecutor’s spokeswoman explains, and “used over 575,000 euros of this for his own purposes.” The public prosecutor’s office therefore assumes that the case is “attempted commercial fraud” in a particularly serious case – which carries a prison sentence of up to ten years.
Higher Regional Court insists on trial
Ballweg knows what it feels like to be in prison, as he had already been in custody for nine months because the public prosecutor was also investigating money laundering and saw a risk of absconding. However, this accusation was accepted by the regional court, which, after examining the files, heavily criticized the prosecution and actually did not want to allow the trial to take place at all. The fact that negotiations are now taking place is based on instructions from the Higher Regional Court (OLG), for which the suspicion of a crime was enough to initiate main proceedings.
According to his own statements, the nine-month pre-trial detention, whether justified or not, did no harm to the lateral thinker. In a YouTube interview, he describes his everyday life in prison as follows: “Meditate for three hours, read for three hours, exercise for one hour.” He read “a lot about resistance movements, a lot about money systems, a lot about social systems.” Reading and inner reflection confirmed his opinion: “It is suggested to us that we live in a democracy. In reality, we live in a suggestion of democracy.” However, Ballweg has only followed this way of thinking since Corona.
Vigil for the Basic Law
The business economist, born in Wertheim, was a very successful IT entrepreneur, with renowned companies as customers. He “actually wanted to go on a trip around the world” in 2020, but this was prevented by the pandemic. While Ballweg initially welcomed the protective measures against the virus on Twitter and called for compliance with the AHA rules, he began to have increasing doubts. As a result, he shared in Network posts that warned of the economic and social consequences of the Corona measures or in which the number of Corona deaths was doubted. In April 2020, he finally called for his first “Vigil for the Basic Law” – which attracted around 150 people to the Stuttgart From then on there was no stopping us.
The vigil became a demonstration, the Schlossplatz became the Cannstatter Wasen and later the Berlin Victory Column with 22,500 registered participants. There Ballweg declared a rally to be a “constituent assembly,” as it is called, and called for the immediate lifting of all corona protection measures and the resignation of the federal government. Today in a video interview he talks about the “good old days”, “we also laughed a lot”. Some things during Corona could only be endured with humor.
This may also apply today to the process, which Ballweg sees as a kind of return to his origins, as he explained in the district court. “We started with the vigils for the Basic Law, for fundamental rights, for civil liberties. And then, over the course of the Corona period, this crazy persecution of critics of the measures took place. This is now being processed.” However, the public prosecutor’s office is taking a completely different approach.
She wants to show that the lateral thinker used more than half a million euros to his advantage alone. According to this, part of the sum is said to have flowed directly into his private assets, further sums to a GmbH with Ballweg as the sole shareholder and money to the “Herzensmenschen Familienstiftung”, which solely serves the well-being of the founder; the defendant.
Ballweg denies all accusations, including tax evasion. The spokesman for his defense team, Alexander Christ, explains: “The indictment is incomplete and incomprehensible. Instead of an indictment, we were presented with a work of fiction.”
The public prosecutor’s office at least admits that the defendant could not be proven to have committed the crime of fraud. Because some supporters apparently didn’t care at all whether their money ended up with “Querdenken 711” or went into Ballweg’s private coffers. In order to identify the motives more precisely, the investigators sent questionnaires to around 1,000 people who had donated more than 100 euros to Ballweg. Around 660 people returned the completed paperwork, 400 of whom said their donation was for free use – a clear majority. Around 190, on the other hand, saw their money strictly earmarked for financing demonstrations and the protest movement. Either way, the public prosecutor’s office is certain that the recipient suggested in speeches and writings that he was working “100 percent on a voluntary basis” – which she sees as a deliberate attempt to deceive his supporters.
Brigitte Schrecker, on the other hand, does not feel cheated; the Stuttgart woman is part of the small group who want to support the defendants at the start of the trial. Although she also donated money to Ballweg. “As far as I’m concerned, he can go on vacation with it,” she says. “He risked so much.” The 64-year-old was there at the first vigil in the palace gardens, as she says. Shortly afterwards she took part in her first demo, still a little cautiously, wearing sunglasses and a peaked cap. Later she put up posters for Ballweg and really wanted the lateral thinker to become mayor of Stuttgart. In the end he failed miserably with only 1.2 percent of the vote. Doesn’t matter. “I’ve been resisting him ever since,” says Schrecker. But in resistance to what?
“Against very, very many things,” she explains. Against the financing of wars, against ever more taxes, against the incapacitation of people, as she believes. Against a life plan that is being forced on her from above. “I have completely lost trust in the state,” says the pensioner. On this dreary morning, she too is wearing a hoodie. However, a slightly finer model, made of white cotton and with a gold inscription: “Edel Schwurbler – since 2020”. Some things can only be endured with humor, regardless of the perspective.
