Legal costs for police abuse victim Elena

In the mid of 2021 I fell victim to police abuse. I was stopped by armed federal police officers on my way home and asked about where I was going, who I am et cetera. I am convinced it is due to my appearance, as I am easily recognizeable as far-left, punk and anarchist. Since I could not provide identification, they took me in custody to clarify my identity.

Once in custody, their tone became increasingly aggressive and insults flew my way. They forced me to undergo not only the identification process but also took mugshots and fingerprints for their database and identification services. But aside from an identification process, they simultaneously started to try and construct criminal charges to justify the ordeal.

First they accused me of carrying an illegal knife, which under German law is a complicated topic. However, I've specifically chosen a regular outdoor knife with a fixed blade and they could not construct any illegality in owning or carrying one. However, they then constructed illegality around an airsoft pistol I was transporting back home after showing it to a friend. Not only did they claim it was a gas pistol, which is a significantly more dangerous item, but also claimed I would have said I would routinely use it for personal defense, which would be illegal in Germany.

I protested this false charge, but saw I didn't have the means to effectively shut it down while still in custody. Before I was released, the police officers asked me to remove several patches on my jacket that showed the letters "ACAB". At first they asked politely, hence I declined politely. Their tone became increasingly aggressive then and they threatened to take away the jacket entirely if I did not remove the patches. Seeing it was cold outside and the jacket a very valued possesion of mine I saw myself forced to comply, but insisting I can take the patches with me. I was let go the next morning, having spent the night in custody.

They let me go, but the false charge went through court. Nobody was willing to hear my side of the story, neither lawyers nor the court itself. In total I had expenses of roughly 2000€ and persistent terror of "random" police controls that quickly threaten to escalate once they see me registered as "armed extremist offender" in their databases. The latter haunts me to this day. However, thanks to the solidarity of friends, comrades and allies I was able to stem those costs back then.

Unfortunately, that is not the end of the story. A lot of my activism revolves around the police, criticizing it and documenting police abuse, brutality and other misbehaviours. Naturally I documented the case and publicized on it extensively. I took legal action, I wrote a formal complaint (to which the police did not react or answer until now), even offering to talk to the involved officers with moderation present, and I wrote about it in several forums.

This provoked a denunciation from one of the forum users, who gathered my texts and send them to (the wrong) police department, causing the Federal Police to sue me for the German equivalent of slander. They argued that from the texts one could gather date, rank and initials of the officers involved, compromising their identity and hence making me liable.

I took it to a lawyer and we formulated a response, somewhat succesfully. The prosecution is willing to drop the case - in exchange for 600,00€ plus administrative fees paid to the justiciary funds. I'm currently awaiting the letter informing me about the exact payment and deadline. Unfortunately, while the lawyer is paid already, I do not have these 600,00€.

I currently live in a dire situation, money-wise. I have a place to sleep but essentially live of the change people throw in my cup. I have tried to try and save up, but my lawyer informed me that the prosecution usually insists on payment within a month which would be December or January, depending on when the formal letter arrives. It is that I ask your help with, as failure to pay would result in the case being picked up again, likely resulting in a much higher fee to pay. Failure to pay that fee would then see me imprisoned.

To me it is imperative that while we must be careful not to draw too many costs and fees onto ourselves, we must not let their threat of repression scare us. Especially not scare us away from telling the truth, may it be uncomfortable or not. And as long as there is no justice, as long as there is not even a system in place through which we can at least try to get justice for the wrongdoings of uniformed criminals, we must not let them take our right to complain about the injustice and it is our moral duty to warn others of the offenders and dangers that lie within the system we live in.