- Melanie Müller was excessively penalized for giving a Nazi salute.
Singer Melanie Muller was fined heavily for performing the Nazi salute repeatedly. Judge Lucas Findeisen of Leipzig Local Court declared Muller guilty of using the infamous right-arm gesture and emblems associated with unlawful and extremist organizations. Apart from this, Muller was also penalized for drug possession, resulting in a total fine of 160 daily rates of 500 euros each, equal to a whopping 80,000 euros. The prosecution had initially requested a lesser fine of 95 daily rates of 60 euros. Muller's legal team pleaded for an acquittal in both charges, but the verdict is yet to be made final.
Muller's repeated Hitler salute at a concert
The court proceedings revealed that Muller had displayed the Nazi salute various times during a concert in September 2022. The court's sentence surpassed the prosecution's proposed sentence significantly. Muller, who hails from the Saxon town of Oschatz, rose to fame after winning RTL's "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!" in 2014. She later appeared in numerous television shows and is now a performing artist, often in Mallorca.
The guilty verdict was handed down by the Court of First Instance in Leipzig, where Judge Lucas Findeisen presided over the case. Despite Muller's legal team arguing for an acquittal, the Court of First Instance upheld the substantial sentence for Muller's use of the Nazi salute.