Posted by Eugene Volokh:
Fine for Displaying Israeli Flag in a Spontaneous Counterdemonstration at an
Anti-Israel Demonstration:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_09_06-2009_09_12.shtml#1252674562
The [1]Jerusalem Post reports, apparently relying on [2]this
German-language source:
A local district court in the West German city of Bochum fined a
student 300 Euros on Wednesday for displaying an Israel flag at a
demonstration organized by Muslim organizations against the IDF
Operation Cast Lead in January. According to Der Westen, a regional
paper in Bochum, the public prosecutor termed the Israeli flag as
"provoking" within a special situation....
According to Der Westen, the local district court judge deemed the
protest of the five activists expressing solidarity with Israel as
a "dangerous situation."
A spokesman for the district court, Volker Talarowski, told the
Post that there was a "violation of the right to assembly" and the
court's decision was issued "independent of a political
motivation." Talarowski added that the pro-Israel demonstrators
failed to register their protest 48 hours before the event.
Yet the student, who is appealing the fine, said a special
regulation permits "spontaneous" demonstrations without a
pre-registration. In response to a hardcore anti-Israeli
demonstration in Bochum attended by 1,600 protesters on January 17,
the student, along with four pro-Israeli activists, displayed a
banner stating "Against anti-Semitism and fascism: Solidarity with
Israel" as well as the Israel flag....
I'd much appreciate any translation of the source, or correction or
amplification of the Jerusalem Post article, from people who know
German. Naturally, if anyone can find the court decision, and the
relevant regulations, I'd also much appreciate seeing those. Thanks to
Avi Bell for the pointer.
References
1.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1251804530442&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull
2.
http://www.derwesten.de/nachrichten/staedte/bochum/2009/9/10/news-132506691/detail.html
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