An elderly German woman was fined 1,350 euros for sharing and liking an anti-migrant joke on Facebook.
The 62-year old woman , who lives in Berlin, has been identified as Jutta B. She had her home raided and was arrested by police for the ‘crime’ of sharing an image on Facebook captioned “Do you have anything against refugees?”
The image, which was deemed offensive by the court, included answers such as “Yes, machine guns and hand grenades” and was shared by more than 500 people. One person who also shared the picture reported the elderly woman to the police.
German newspaper Berliner Morgenpost reported that the woman was fined 1,350 euros because the image included negative comments about the so-called refugees.
Following her arrest and the fine, the social media network suspended the woman’s account. In court, Jutta said she shared and liked the image without properly reading it. “I like to pass on funny things,” she said.
The prosecution didn’t accept the woman’s defense and described her online behavior as “an utterance capable of inciting hatred and denigration of the human dignity of others.”
Following the fine, the woman received a number of abusive messages from others on Facebook. A left-wing “anti-fascist” group, Anti-Fascist Action, has reportedly sent death threats to the woman.