"Corona autocrat"

Insulting Söder: Grosz defends speech as satire

Grosz's statements were made at the Political Ash Wednesday of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Osterhofen, Bavaria.(Bild: APA/dpa/Armin Weigel)

Following his verbal attacks against Bavaria's CSU Prime Minister Markus Söder at an AfD event on 22 February 2023, the Deggendorf district court has imposed a fine on former BZÖ politician Gerald Grosz. He defended his choice of words in court on Monday as "satire".

"This is the satire you expect on Ash Wednesday," said the 47-year-old Austrian at the hearing in Deggendorf. However, the judge took a different view: the insult put Söder "close to the National Socialist regime", she said at the sentencing on Monday. Grosz received a fine of 90 daily rates of 165 euros, i.e. 14,850 euros.

"Corona autocrat", "traitor to the state", "Södolf"
 The public prosecutor's office accuses Grosz, among other things, of calling CSU leader Söder a "corona autocrat", "traitor to the state" and "Södolf" at the AfD's political Ash Wednesday in Osterhofen in Lower Bavaria in February 2023. He also insulted the German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) with the words "horror clown". In September, the district court therefore issued a penalty order against Grosz for alleged insulting behavior and imposed a fine of 90 daily rates of 400 euros, i.e. 36,000 euros.

Grosz: "Classic beer mat speech"
 However, Grosz's lawyer lodged an appeal against this. Freedom of expression and Ash Wednesday speeches deserved special protection, the defense argued on Monday. The words for which the 47-year-old is on trial had occurred to him "spontaneously", said Grosz. It was a "classic beer mat speech". He had only made a few notes on a "beer mat" for his speech, which lasted around 45 minutes, he said.

Grosz also denied the accusation that he had carried a knife and thus violated the right of assembly. He only had a bottle opener with him. According to his own statements, he does not expect to be acquitted in Deggendorf in Bavaria.

"Will go through the entire legal process"
Grosz announced his intention to appeal. "Renowned lawyers throughout Germany have made it clear to me that no judge at district court level dares to rule against Söder's interests," he explained in the run-up to the trial. "That's why we will go all the way to the courts. If I have to, I will go all the way to Karlsruhe (seat of the German Constitutional Court, note)," said Grosz.

He added that he had been acquitted of the accusation that he had a knife with him at the event. It was only a bottle opener, says Grosz, who defended his choice of words as satire. His lawyers also considered the statements to be covered by freedom of expression in the context of the political Ash Wednesday. These deserved special protection.

Grosz held various positions with the FPÖ and the BZÖ between 1998 and 2015. In 2022, he stood for election as Federal President and received 5.6 percent of the vote.