By André Jahnke, dpa I Wednesday, November 13, 2024
BERLIN – German pop singer Melanie Müller, who rejected her conviction for giving the outlawed Hitler salute several times during a concert in 2022, will be back in court on appeal, a court spokesman confirmed to dpa on Tuesday.
Müller, 36, who was also a reality TV star, was found guilty by the Leipzig District Court in August of using symbols of unconstitutional and terrorist organizations, according to Judge Lucas Findeisen.
The appeal will be heard in 2025 by the Leipzig Regional Court. A trial date has not yet been set, the court spokesman said, but it not expected to happen for at least several months. A completely new evidentiary hearing might have to take place.
The district court had also sentenced the former RTL Jungle Queen on August 23 for drug possession. She was ordered to pay a daily fine rate of €500 ($531) for 160 days or €80,000.
Pop singer rejects charges
The penalty was significantly above the prosecution’s request for 95 daily rates of €60 or a total of €5,700. The defence had argued for an acquittal on both counts, saying Müller is apolitical and has no right-wing sentiments.
Her lawyer Adrian Stahl argued that her hand gesture during the concert was not a Hitler salute but was intended to motivate the crowd.
But the judge said her arm motions at the show in question clearly deviated from previous performances, and that she’d embraced the crowd’s response of “Heil, Heil, Heil!” to one of her chants.
In the original court proceedings, the singer had not provided specific details about her income. Therefore, the judge estimated her earnings. He assumed that Müller still has numerous performances in Mallorca and owns apartments in both Germany and the Spanish holiday island.
“You have a conspicuously luxurious lifestyle,” the judge said. He then estimated Müller’s monthly income to be about €15,000.
Müller was born in Oschatz, Saxony. In 2014, she won the eighth series of the RTL jungle show “Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus!” (I’m a star – get me out of here) and has since appeared in numerous TV formats.
