Criminal proceedings against Xavier Naidoo: Mannheim Regional Court admits incitement to hatred charge
Mannheim Regional Court has opened criminal proceedings against singer Xavier Naidoo for incitement to hatred. Five further charges were rejected.
Mannheim Regional Court opens proceedings against Naidoo for incitement to hatred
Mannheim Regional Court opened criminal proceedings against singer Xavier Naidoo (54) by order dated 25 June 2026. As reported by 20 Minuten, the 4th Grand Criminal Chamber admitted one charge from the Mannheim public prosecutor's office from 11 July 2023 — specifically the suspicion of incitement to hatred in conjunction with insult.
According to a spokesperson for the Regional Court, Naidoo is said to have published antisemitic content and Holocaust denial material via the Telegram messaging service in the years 2020 and 2021. The public prosecutor's office also accuses him of insulting a person associated with the Amadeu Antonio Foundation whilst publishing texts with antisemitic content. Several criminal complaints were received according to investigations.
For three further allegations from the indictment of July 2023 and two points from an indictment of 2024, the Regional Court rejected opening main proceedings. There was "on factual or legal grounds no sufficient suspicion of an offence," the spokesperson explained. The public prosecutor's office lodged an immediate appeal against this decision; the Karlsruhe Higher Regional Court must now rule on it.
No date for the main hearing has been set so far. The Regional Court spokesperson emphasised: "The presumption of innocence applies to the defendant until conclusion of the proceedings."
Naidoo's attorneys stated to SWR that the Regional Court, "after intensive examination", had "largely" followed their position and rejected admission of the charges in five of six cases. The defence counsel do not regard the remaining admitted charge as incitement to hatred in legal terms.
Already in 2024, the singer's legal representatives had confirmed that Naidoo was the "musician from Mannheim" named in the public prosecutor's office statement. In a statement at the time, it said: "The allegations of incitement to hatred and Holocaust denial claimed by the public prosecutor's office are false and are expressly disputed." Naidoo rejected "any antisemitic, racist or xenophobic ideology," it continued.
The singer had repeatedly attracted public attention in recent years due to conspiracy narratives and controversial remarks. In 2022, he publicly stated that he had become "fixated" and was on "false paths".
Source: 20 Minuten