German PEGIDA founder to stand trial accused of calling immigrants ‘scum’ and ‘cattle’

Bachmann has been summoned to court to face hate speech charges

 

PEGIDA founder Lutz Bachmann has been summoned to court to face hate speech charges, after allegedly describing immigrants as “cattle” and “scum”. Bachmann, 43, was charged in October, after allegedly using the descriptions in widely shared Facebook postings.

A Dresden court said that it had set dates in April and May for Bachmann to stand trial. The court said Bachmann’s comments “disrupted public order” and constituted an “attack on (the refugees’) dignity”, AFP reported.

Bachmann founded PEGIA in 2014, with the name an acronym for, Patriotic Europeans against the Islamisation of Europe.