Expert analyzes all video recordings
Gil Ofarim is on trial in Leipzig for the fourth time. He is on trial for defamation and false accusations. The focus is now on all the videos from the evening in question, which are being closely scrutinized by a digital forensic expert.
It was day four of the media-heavy trial against Gil Ofarim. The singer has to answer for defamation and false accusation. It was actually him who publicly accused the Westin Hotel in Leipzig of an alleged case of anti-Semitism on social media two years ago in October. As there was no evidence to support these accusations, the 41-year-old is now standing trial at Leipzig District Court instead.
After several witnesses had already testified against him on Tuesday, things did not look much better for Gil Ofarim and his credibility the following day. As reported by "Focus", the first witness of the day, a technician, ruled out the manipulation of the surveillance videos that contradict Ofarim's version of events. The question is whether Gil Ofarim wore his Star of David openly and for all to see that evening, as he claims.
Ofarim's defense lawyer Alexander Stevens complained that the video recordings had already been shown to possible witnesses during internal hotel investigations prior to the police investigation, but the technician was unable to make a statement. Those present were then also shown the recordings in question. Beforehand, one of Ofarim's lawyers left the courtroom due to extreme back pain.
According to the report, Ofarim could be seen in the videos from the moment he approached the hotel until the moment he picked up his guitar and disappeared again. In the meantime, about 15 minutes passed in which he talked on the phone or sat on the curb in front of the entrance with his cell phone in his hand.
Judge is said to be biased
Following this part of the program, Ofarim's lawyer unexpectedly filed a motion for recusal against the judge. The reason for this was a lecture on the subject of extremism that he had given at the Saxon State Ministry of Justice and Democracy in March. As a result, the trial was interrupted for a good hour and a half before continuing with the old line-up.
The second witness of the day was now heard. It was the shuttle driver who took Gil Ofarim to the radio station that day and from there to the hotel. "I was told beforehand that he had already had a drink, which he dismissed with a smile. He sat down with me on the passenger side, which was unusual. But he wasn't drunk," she is quoted as saying by Focus. They had a nice chat and he then gave her a book of his. A hug followed before Ofarim took his things out of the trunk and drove her off again.
"He had a brown leather chain around his neck, to me it looked like a prayer chain," she continued. "I can't remember a silver chain with a Star of David, I had to google it afterwards. But I can remember this prayer chain 100 percent." When asked, she also stated that Ofarim had flirted with her. "Yes, he asked me what I was doing after that - I replied that it was the coronavirus pandemic, the job was long and there wasn't much more I could do." The conversation was probably also about his children and his ex-wife.
Digital forensics expert on the stand
After some delay, digital forensics expert Dirk Labudde was called to the witness stand to give an expert opinion on the footage from all the available videos. First, however, one of Ofarim's lawyers interjected a new video. This came from the bar area of the hotel. A jump in the recording showed that two seconds were missing from the recording. The next interruption followed so that expert Labudde could take a closer look and "analyze" it.
Referring to the eleven video files he already had, including the reels from Ofarim's Instagram channel that set the ball rolling, Labudde finally said that it was "the best possible and original evidence". The raw files were therefore not available to him. The recordings from three surveillance cameras were also analyzed: the one in the lobby near the entrance, the one at the side of the reception and the one outside the entrance. All the paths Ofarim took in this short time, his entire behavior, were dissected.
Chain yes, but Star of David?
This was followed by a close examination of clothing and jewelry. The former was probably largely consistent with the witness statements. The fact that he was visibly wearing a necklace could also be seen in many of the photographs. However, Labudde's analysis could neither verify nor rule out whether the pendant was a Star of David. "We assume that it is a reflective object in the chest area - we cannot say which object it is," "Focus" quotes the expert as saying.
The hearings of three hotel employees on Thursday were canceled shortly before closing time and their statements will only be read out on Thursday. Instead, Dirk Labudde will return to continue his statements and presumably bring them to a conclusion. According to "Focus", this fourth day of the trial was ended at the insistence of Ofarim's lawyers.
Despite the close scrutiny of the videos by a digital forensic expert, the manipulation of surveillance footage to support Gil Ofarim's claims of anti-Semitism at the Westin Hotel in Leipzig was ruled out by the first witness of the day. The question still remains whether Gil Ofarim was wearing his Star of David visibly in the Pop music event that sparked the controversy.
The focus on the trial in Leipzig has not only included analyzing video recordings but also the examination of physical evidence, such as the necklace Gil Ofarim was wearing that day, which is believed to have contained a reflective Star of David. However, the digital forensic expert could not definitively prove or disprove its identity.
Source: www.ntv.de
