Disruptive propaganda against the Bundeswehr
The disruptive propaganda against the Bundeswehr is a criminal offense that is recorded in Germany in Section 109d of the Criminal Code . According to this provision, a prison sentence of up to five years or a fine is punished for anyone who, contrary to their better judgment, makes false or grossly distorted factual assertions, the dissemination of which could disrupt the activities of the Bundeswehr . Anyone who spreads such allegations with knowledge of their untruth in order to hinder the Bundeswehr in its national defense will also be punished. The attempt is punishable according to § 109d Abs. 2 StGB.
The act is a potentially dangerous offense . Because of its strict, usually unprovable requirements, the practical significance of the provision is low.
requirements
The offender must untrue or grossly distorted assertions up , a criminal act that the assertion of libel gem. Section 186 corresponds to the fact that something must be presented as correct according to one's own conviction, even if one has learned it from third parties and not experienced it oneself. The perpetrator must be concerned about the spread (subjective fact ).
The assertions must be factual, thus differ from mere value judgments and be untrue or grossly distorted, i.e. omit essential details or add to them. They must also be capable of disrupting the work of the Bundeswehr. Since whispered propaganda can be far more dangerous than agitation, the act does not need to be done publicly for the offense to be fulfilled.
Purpose and background
The provision is intended to protect the functionality of the Bundeswehr as a defense instrument against intellectual sabotage or lying propaganda .
The concept of opinion is to be interpreted broadly, so that it does not matter which topics are touched upon or whether an utterance is classified as worthless or absurd; however, untrue factual assertions are not worth protecting from the point of view of freedom of expression .
The penal norm does not affect the scope of constitutionally guaranteed freedom of expression, since Article 5, Paragraph 1, Clause 1 of the Basic Law does not give carte blanche for the dissemination of deliberate untruths and the norm is hardly applicable anyway because of the high demands on criminal liability .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b § 109d Rn. 1, disruptive propaganda against the Bundeswehr , in: Commentary on the Criminal Code, Lackner / Kühl, CH Beck, Munich
- ↑ a b § 109d Rn. 1, disruptive propaganda against the Bundeswehr , in: Fischer, Criminal Code and ancillary laws, CH Beck, Munich 2014
- ↑ Art. 5, freedom of communication, freedom of art and science , in: Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, commentary by Hans D. Jarras and Bode Pieroth, Beck, Munich 1992, p. 136
