MUNICH (dpa-AFX) - A Munich imam will probably have to stand trial for a
Facebook post he made on October 7, 2023, the day Hamas launched its
deadly attack on Israel.

The imam had appealed against a penalty order issued against him for
the post, so the Munich district court confirmed on Monday that he
will now have to face a trial.

A court spokesman said that a date for the trial has not yet been
set. The court did not disclose any details of the charges against
the man, as penalty orders are not in the public domain.

On October 7, the imam wrote on Facebook that 'Everyone has their own
way of celebrating October.' He added a smiley face emoji. He later
explained on Facebook that the message referred to October 6, which
is a bank holiday in Egypt. 'At the time, I was not fully aware of
the events of 7 October or their implications.'

The Islamic Centre in Munich suspended the cleric after the post. The
message was seen by some as a mockery of the Israeli victims of the
Hamas attack. The imam himself described the incident as a
misunderstanding. He had also deleted the post in the interests of
not creating a stir.

Commenting on the suspension, he said that he wished  'it hadn't come
to this, but I can understand the measure in view of the public
pressure and the tense situation.'

The board of the Islamic Centre distanced itself from the imam's
post. 'In a special meeting of the board, it was decided to suspend
our imam immediately until the allegations have been clarified,' the
centre said at the time.

'Under no circumstances should we as a German Muslim community and as
a society allow hatred and violence from the Middle East to be spread
to Jews and Muslims in Germany.'


Copyright dpa