Man given prison sentence in Germany for violent far-right rock music

The main defendant has been sentenced to two years and eight months in prison in a trial in a northern German court concerning the production and sale of far-right rock music that glorified violence, reported dpa.

"When you listen to it, it really leaves you speechless," the presiding judge at the court in the city of Lüneburg, Michael Herrmann, said regarding the content of the recordings.

The 35-year-old was convicted of incitement to hatred, the use of symbols of unconstitutional organizations and depictions of violence.

The court was convinced that he had sold and produced recordings with content inciting hatred.

He confessed to part of the allegations during the trial.

A court spokeswoman explained that a suspended sentence for the 35-year-old was not automatic despite his 16 months in pre-trial detention, and he might have to go to prison. The verdict is not yet legally binding.

The Public Prosecutor's Office in the city of Celle had demanded a prison sentence of three years and eight months for the previously convicted 35-year-old from Bardowick near Lüneburg.

The defence argued for a maximum sentence of two years and eight months, suggesting that any remaining sentence should be suspended because their client had spent 16 months in pre-trial detention.

Together with a 55-year-old man from Hamburg and a 46-year-old man from Saxony living in Escheburg, in the state of Schleswig-Holstein, the 35-year-old operated the sale of the recordings. Both were given suspended sentences.

Two other men, aged 40 and 48, who were involved in purchasing licences and designing the covers, received fines for aiding and abetting.