The criminal fraud trial against the founder of Germany’s Querdenken (Lateral Thinking) movement, which protested against coronavirus pandemic measures, began on Wednesday in a court in Stuttgart.
Michael Ballweg, 49, is accused of misleading the movement’s donors about how their money would be used. He raised more than €1 million ($1.1 million) from thousands of supporters through public appeals.
His lawyers have rejected the charges and Ballweg told reporters at the courthouse on Wednesday that he went into the proceedings with a good feeling.
“Everything is fine,” he said.
Ballweg, who arrived wearing a shirt with the slogan “Freedom is made of courage,” allowed press photographers to take his photo before the proceedings began.
Some of Ballweg’s supporters gathered in the courtroom.
The German lateral thinking movement was launched in Stuttgart during the coronavirus pandemic but spread to many cities across the country. Supporters staged repeated protests against lockdown measures, vaccination requirements and other aspects of the government’s response.
There were also incidents of police officers and journalists being attacked.
