German Court Jails Hezbollah Supporter Over Videos Showing Weapons

A German court on Friday sentenced a supporter of Lebanon’s Hezbollah party to more than three years in jail Friday over for “illegal access to weapons” and social media posts supporting the group. Earlier in the same trial the 30-year-old was acquitted on charges of actually fighting for Hezbollah and being a member of the group. The court in Berlin gave him a sentence of three years and nine months over social media posts he made with videos taken during a trip to Lebanon in 2023. In the videos he was seen handling rifles and anti-tank missiles and taking part in shooting practice. The court found he also spread propaganda videos and displayed Hezbollah symbols, such as flags and scarves. However, the court said that the videos in question showed that the accused had had no training in dealing with the weapons and that he had acted in a “partly amateurish” fashion. His earlier claims to have fought with the group were made up in order to impress his friends, the court found. Hezbollah’s military wing is classed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Britain. Germany considers Hezbollah a “Shiite terrorist organization” and in 2020 banned Hezbollah from carrying out activities on its soil.