A good two years after Gil Ofarim's anti-Semitism allegations against a Leipzig hotel employee, the trial against the Jewish musician has begun. The 41-year-old is in the dock in the Leipzig district court for, among other things, false suspicions and defamation. The public prosecutor's office accuses him of lying, but Ofarim is not commenting on this for the time being.

At the beginning of October 2021, the musician made serious allegations of anti-Semitism against an employee of a Leipzig hotel in an Instagram video. He had previously complained about the alleged favoritism given to guests who were behind him in the queue. But the public prosecutor didn't believe him. After extensive investigations, charges were brought against Ofarim. The case against the hotel employee was dropped.

Charge: Hotel employee wrongly portrayed as anti-Semitic

Ofarim's descriptions do not correspond to the truth, said public prosecutor Andreas Ricken. The defendant wrongly portrayed the employee as an anti-Semite. Ofarim had claimed that the employee asked him to take off his Star of David necklace so that he could check in. According to the prosecution, the Star of David was not visible under the musician's shirt when he checked in. Ofarim only made the star visible when he shot the video himself.

The musician came to the fully occupied jury courtroom 115 on Tuesday morning accompanied by his four lawyers. Numerous people still had to wait in front of the door. The singer and actor from Munich wore a heavy leather jacket and the Star of David hung on a silver chain over his shirt. During the reading of the charges, he appeared highly concentrated, took notes, frowned at some of the allegations and nodded when the prosecutor played back the content of his videos.

The musician originally wanted to comment on the public prosecutor's allegations at the start of the trial. Since the defense was still missing some files, he initially refrained from making a statement. He left the field to his lawyers. The presumption of innocence applies until a final conviction is made.

Defender: Public opinion determined by lies

This is a case of statement against statement, said attorney Alexander Stevens. If only a single discriminatory word was used during the incident two years ago, his client should be acquitted, the lawyer emphasized in his statement after the indictment was read out.

It is possible that the case was a misunderstanding or bad humor - or an "anti-Semitic innuendo," said the lawyer. It is important for society that the court determines the truth. The lawyer also emphasized that it was “not about the star, but about the experience of discrimination.” Bullying and discrimination are difficult to prove - especially for victims. In this case, public opinion is determined by several lies.

The affected hotel employee will be heard as a witness in the afternoon. The court has scheduled ten days of hearings until December 7th.