Municipalities – Rostock – Rostock’s citizenship deals with Xavier Naidoo concert – politics

Rostock (dpa / mv) – The Rostock citizenship is today Wednesday with the concert of the controversial singer Xavier Naidoo planned for August 2021. At the request of the parliamentary groups of the SPD and the Left, the appearance planned in the town hall should be banned. According to the application, the background is that Naidoo uses anti-Semitic clichés and codes in his songs. The proximity to Reich citizens and right-wing populists and their content had been sought repeatedly by him. Naidoo had vehemently rejected allegations of racism after he had to leave the jury for the RTL program “Deutschland sucht den Superstar” in March.

In their motion, the SPD and the Left emphasize that the right to freedom of expression and artistic freedom represent a great asset. “However, it cannot be that the democratic rights of freedom are used to hate speech and spread racist statements. The limits of freedom of expression occur where it is misused to spread intolerant and discriminatory ideas.”

The city administration was critical of the application. The concert is not to be equated with a political event and it is also not known that criminal or constitutional proceedings have been initiated against Naidoo that would justify a performance ban. The consequence of a ban is that an urban society is asked to commit a breach of contract. The consequence would be, among other things, a compensation payment to the concert agency. There is also the risk that the good reputation of the town hall in the industry as a popular event location would be in jeopardy.

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