A pair of Chinese tourists were arrested in Berlin yesterday after making the Nazi salute outside the Reichstag. The tourists, both men, aged 36 and 49, fell afoul of Germany’s strict laws…
A pair of Chinese tourists were arrested in Berlin yesterday after making the Nazi salute outside the Reichstag. The tourists, both men, aged 36 and 49, fell afoul of Germany’s strict laws against the use of Nazi symbolism while taking pictures of each other on their phones. The offense can be punished with a sentence of up to three years imprisonment.
NPR reports that the men were released after posting bail of €500 (nearly $600) each. The laws, section 86a of the German criminal code, came as part of the massive de-Nazification efforts which followed Nazi Germany’s defeat in World War II. Under the laws, displaying any of a variety of symbols or gestures associated with the Nazi regime, including the one-armed salute, the white supremacist Celtic cross, the swastika and the SS runes and death’s head, are all criminal offenses. Laws prohibiting the salute also exist across Austria, Sweden, Russia, Slovakia, Switzerland, and several other nations.
A spokesman for the police who spoke to the New York Times said that she didn’ t know whether the men remained in Germany.
