From the editorial staff of BZ
Musician Gil Ofarim (40) failed with his bias claims against a Leipzig regional court judge in his case for false suspicion and defamation. The trial for the Davidstren deal can then begin on 24 October as planned.
The Dresden Higher Regional Court (OLG) on Friday dismissed the complaints against the rejection of the bias claims. There is no legal remedy against this decision, an OLG spokesperson pointed out when asked. The Leipzig District Court admitted the charges against the 40-year-old in September and opened the main proceedings.
The trial is expected to begin on 24 October.
Gil Well done a year ago in a viral video that a Leipzig hotel employee asked him to take off the chain with the Star of David in order to check in.
According to the Leipzig public prosecutor’s office, the incident did not happen this way. The employee concerned had filed a complaint. According to the court, he appears as a common actor in the trial. The presumption of innocence applies to Ofarim until the final conclusion of the proceedings. The 40-year-old hadn’t recently spoken publicly.
The musician’s defense lawyers had rejected the president of the Leipzig regional court as biased. However, the regional court had rejected these claims as unfounded and immediately opened the main proceedings with the participation of the chamber president, although his request for rejection had not yet been definitively decided. The participation of a rejected judge in the opening procedure does not lead to its ineffectiveness, according to the OLG’s reasoning.
The Leipzig regional court used “legal sleight of hand,” the musician’s defense attorneys said Friday. As a result, the trial could take place, but for the unlawful admission of the indictment, according to the defense, any sentence against Gil Ofarim could be overturned.
“We will immediately submit an urgent request to the Federal Constitutional Court with the aim of banning the Leipzig Regional Court from negotiating orally,” said lawyer Alexander Stevens when asked.
