The civil engineer, born in 1957, wrote an email to Schwesig in April 2022 – a few weeks after the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine – and described her as a “storyteller”. It continues: “Dear Dame Schwesig, too late for you. We still need women in construction. Would that be something for you!? You don’t have to sell stupid stuff to people.” It continued: “Do you really want, as I heard, to support the murderous operation of the pissed-off people in Moscow.”
According to Retemeyer, the public prosecutor in charge obviously found the content of the email offensive, and the judge at the district court also saw it that way. “Otherwise he would not have issued a penalty order.” The civil engineer did not lodge an objection, otherwise the matter would have been discussed in a hearing. He doesn’t know whether the penalty order has now been paid or whether the man has started the sentence.
Government spokesman Andreas Timm told the newspaper “Nordkurier” that Schwesig made the decision to file a complaint in spring 2022: “The letter was overall derogatory and insulting. And what is not possible is for the Prime Minister to be associated with murderous actions.” The CDU state chairman of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Daniel Peters, criticized the Prime Minister’s reaction in the newspaper. “Mrs. Schwesig has cannons shooting at sparrows,” he said. It must be acknowledged that she feels insulted by the email. However, it is difficult to understand that this would result in a fine or a prison sentence. The “Lèse-Majesty Paragraph” should be abolished.
