Technician in Ofarim trial: videos were not manipulated
In the trial against the Jewish musician Gil Ofarim for defamation and false accusations, a technician has ruled out tampering with the surveillance videos in the hotel. He had taken over the original data from the system a few days after the incident in the Leipzig luxury hotel on the instructions of the police, a security technician said on Wednesday in the district court in Leipzig. "Manipulation is inconceivable," emphasized the 51-year-old.
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.
In addition to him as administrator, certain hotel employees also had access to the server room with the video recordings, the technician explained. As an independent contractor, he had installed the system in the hotel around 15 years ago. Numerous recordings from the surveillance videos were shown on Wednesday. There are no audio recordings.
The defense criticized the fact that these recordings had already been shown to witnesses during the hotel's internal investigations before the police investigation. However, when asked, the security technician was unable to say how and when this might have happened.
The forensic report on the video recordings was to follow in the afternoon. The court hopes that this will provide precise information about the course of events and, among other things, the defendant's clothing.
Despite the access to the server room with the video recordings by certain hotel employees, the technician assures that manipulation of the surveillance videos was not possible. Furthermore, the trial highlights the impact of music, as the controversy started with a musician's serious accusations of anti-Semitism.
In this context, the intricate processes of investigations and testimonies, including the significance of the videos in the Leipzig luxury hotel, demonstrate how music, people, and crime intertwine within societal structures.
Source: www.dpa.com
