A Munich court on Thursday overturned an earlier court conviction and acquitted Petr Bystron, a member of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the European Parliament, over a picture he posted of former chancellor Angela Merkel with her hand outstretched in an alleged Hitler salute.
The presiding judge at the Munich Regional Court said the post was "tasteless" but not a criminal offence. Displaying the Hitler salute is illegal in Germany.
The case centred on a photo collage Bystron shared on Twitter (now X) in 2022, on the occasion of the dismissal of the then Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Andrij Melnyk.
The collage carried the caption "Bye, bye Melnyk! German politicians wave goodbye!" and showed Merkel and Bettina Wulff, the then wife of the former German president, both with an arm raised and hand outstretched.
The prosecution argued that Bystron had effectively used the banned Hitler salute, saying he and his team had manipulated the salute to make it appear as though the individuals depicted were performing it.
Munich's district court had agreed in its ruling and sentenced Bystron to a fine of €11,250 ($13,240) for using the insignia of unconstitutional and terrorist organizations.
Both Bystron and the prosecution appealed, with the defence seeking an acquittal, while the prosecution sought a conviction carrying a higher fine.
Bystron, who had initially not intended to appear at the appeal proceedings but ultimately did so after his lawyer's power of attorney was found to be insufficient, called it "completely absurd" that anyone should seek to "impute" a Hitler salute to him in connection with the collage. He said people should not always interpret every "harmless wave" as a Hitler salute.
