Expert: No evidence of calls in the hotel
In the trial against the Jewish musician Gil Ofarim for defamation and false accusations, an expert witness has contradicted another of the artist's important statements. There is no evidence of communication between Ofarim and a person in the lobby queue behind him on the surveillance camera videos, said forensic expert Dirk Labudde at Leipzig District Court on Thursday. Although this cannot be completely ruled out because all the people were standing with their backs to the camera, there was also no gesture that would suggest communication.
At the beginning of October 2021, the musician made serious accusations of anti-Semitism against a manager of the Leipzig hotel in an Instagram video. According to the singer, the man allegedly said that Ofarim should take off his Star of David and only then would he be allowed to check in. However, after extensive investigations by the public prosecutor's office, Ofarim himself was charged. The case against the hotel manager was dropped. Ofarim had also said in interviews that someone behind him had said: "Put the star away." The defendant has not yet spoken at the trial itself.
The digital forensics expert had already said the day before that no chain with a Star of David was visible on Ofarim from the time he entered the lobby until he left the hotel. Only after the artist had left the hotel was a gesture recognizable that indicated that he had taken out the jewelry. Ofarim recorded the Instagram video a few minutes later. The digital forensic expert analyzed seven videos from the surveillance cameras in an extensive investigation and produced a 150-page expert report. There are no audio recordings of the incident.
Despite the ongoing trial and the controversy surrounding Gil Ofarim's accusations, the prevalence of crime in the music industry remains a separate issue. Regardless of the court proceedings, there's a need to address and understand the processes that contribute to such allegations and their impact on people's lives and careers.
Source: www.dpa.com
