On Monday, a spokesman for Germany’s interior ministry announced that anyone showing the letter “Z,” the symbol of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, to show support for Russia could be prosecuted under Germany’s criminal defense law. , which prohibits the public approval of certain crimes. Similar announcements have already been made by various municipalities in the past few days, both in individual federal states and in German cities.
In particular, those who display the letter “Z” to support the actions of the Russian army in Ukraine for example by putting or drawing it on their car or outside their home, showing it during a demonstration or posting it online will do so can be punished by the competent local court with a fine or imprisonment of up to three years (in Germany, the local courts and not the federal courts are responsible for dealing with criminal offenses with a prison sentence of up to four years).
The reference law for enforcement measures of this kind is Section 140 of the Criminal Code, which defines the conviction of a criminal offense and provides, succinctly, that supporting or publicly condoning certain criminal offenses can be considered a criminal offence. Among these crimes are violations of international law, such as war crimes or wars of aggression, such as that launched by Russia against Ukraine. The German Ministry of the Interior he said that since Russian aggression against Ukraine is considered illegal, anyone who publicly condones it can be prosecuted.
The announcement by Germany’s interior ministry was welcomed not only by local governors, who had previously said they would take similar action, but also by three other states who agreed to look into it. Michael Roth, German Social Democrat and Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the German Bundestag, he said that the “Z” has become the symbol “of an authoritarian regime which, in violation of international law, is waging a terrible war of aggression” and that therefore “anyone who uses it makes himself a vassal of Russia”.
However, there are also many doubts about the specific application of the law. Proving that the public display of the letter “Z is actually linked to support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine is far more complicated than it appears, for a variety of reasons.
For example, as explained by Ulrich Stein, former German professor of criminal law at the University of Munster, public support for an illegal act must be clear and obvious to all in order to be considered a crime: and it is not than simply displaying the letter “Z” on a front door or a dress, Stein says. For example, for many unfamiliar with current events and the Russian context, the letter “Z” could be understood simply as the initial of a name.
Jörg Heidrich, a specialist lawyer for IT law and a member of the German Press Council, the body that regulates the media in Germany, told Politico that the interior ministry’s statement was more of a symbolic position. , which is unlikely to lead to real trials.
The letter “Z” first appeared on Russian military vehicles on February 22, a day after President Vladimir Putin announced his intention to recognize the two selfproclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk. It then became a symbol of the Russian invasion. It is not clear where this symbol came from and what it means, also because the Russian authorities have not yet issued an official statement: among other things, the letter Z does not exist in the Russian alphabet, the Cyrillic, so it is believed to be a transliteration of a Russian phrase or word into the Latin alphabet. There are those who suggest that it might mean za pobedy (‘for victory’) and those who say it means zapad (‘west’).
Also read: The “Z” became the symbol of the Russian invasion