The Leipzig district court has postponed the start of the defamation trial against the musician Gil Ofarim, which was planned for next week, by at least six months. The reason for this is, among other things, a comprehensive claim for damages made at short notice by the co-plaintiff and pending decisions on appeals filed by the defense, as the court announced on Monday.

Due to the workload of the chamber, the start of the proceedings cannot be expected before the end of six months. In addition, the time should be used to decide on further charges against the 40-year-old. This includes false affidavits, fraud and attempted fraud. In addition, the court suggested that an attempt should be made to reach a perpetrator-victim mediation and thus an out-of-court settlement.

After allegations of anti-Semitism against an employee of a Leipzig hotel, which the public prosecutor found to be without any basis, Ofarim is to answer for false suspicion and defamation. A year ago, he described in a viral video that an employee of a Leipzig hotel had asked him to take off his Star of David necklace so that he could check in. The allegations made publicly made waves at the time. The employee concerned had filed a complaint.