{"id":1345,"date":"2026-05-29T13:40:04","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T13:40:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arabnewsmonitor.com\/2026\/05\/29\/german-politician-blasts-totalitarian-madness-of-sanctions-on-pro-palestinian-journalist\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T13:40:04","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T13:40:04","slug":"german-politician-blasts-totalitarian-madness-of-sanctions-on-pro-palestinian-journalist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/?p=1345","title":{"rendered":"German politician blasts \u2018totalitarian madness\u2019 of sanctions on pro-Palestinian journalist"},"content":{"rendered":"

Berlin has imposed a \u201ccivil death\u201d on Huseyin Dogru at Brussels\u2019 behest, critics say<\/strong><\/p>\n

Germany\u2019s implementation of EU sanctions against a pro-Palestinian journalist whom Brussels has accused of fueling discord on Russia\u2019s behalf has descended into \u201ctotalitarian madness,\u201d<\/em> German opposition politician Sahra Wagenknecht has said.<\/p>\n

Wagenknecht has called for financial restrictions imposed on Huseyin Dogru and his Berlin-based family to be lifted. On Tuesday, Dogru said Comdirect bank had frozen the assets of his elderly mother, citing what it described as a \u201ccontrol relationship over the funds by [her] son.\u201d<\/em> His wife\u2019s bank account was targeted in March, while his father is reportedly under investigation by the authorities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is how dictatorships treat opposition figures,\u201d<\/em> the left-wing BSW party founder told Berliner Zeitung on Thursday.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"RT\"
Germany wants X to push state-approved content \u2013 report<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cThe EU\u2019s scandalous overreach against a German journalist and the German government\u2019s complicity in breaking the law and collective punishment must finally stop,\u201d<\/em> she added. \u201cIf the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution were doing its job, this totalitarian government extremism would actually be a case for them.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

EU portrays pro-Palestinian advocacy as serving Russia<\/h2>\n

Dogru is a Turkish-German journalist who previously worked with the media outlet Redfish, which received funding from Ruptly, a video agency Western governments have labeled as being part of Russia\u2019s \u201cpropaganda\u201d<\/em> infrastructure.<\/p>\n

The EU imposed personal sanctions on Dogru in May 2025, accusing him of \u201csystematically spreading false information about politically controversial topics, with the intention of sowing ethnic, political and religious discord\u201d<\/em> in Germany and claiming that his work aligned with Russian objectives.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"RT\"
The US has accused the EU of censorship: Here\u2019s how the bloc\u2019s consensus machine works\u00a0<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Dogru says Brussels and Berlin are targeting him over his pro-Palestinian activism. Even Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner Michael O\u2019Flaherty criticized<\/a> Germany over the issue, warning in April that \u201cfreedom of expression has been restricted disproportionately, regarding debates on Palestinian rights or legitimate criticism of the Israeli government.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018Civil death\u2019 without charges<\/h2>\n

The German financial restrictions severely limit<\/a> what Dogru, a father of three young children, can legally do to support his family. He is barred from carrying out donation-funded journalism or accepting solidarity aid, as the government considers such payments an attempt to circumvent sanctions. His assets have been frozen, with only around \u20ac500 ($590) per month permitted for expenses. His travel has also been restricted.<\/p>\n

Dogru\u2019s supporters say he has effectively been subjected to a \u201ccivil death\u201d<\/em> despite no formal charges being filed against him. A campaign urging the EU to lift the sanctions was launched last week on the anniversary of their introduction.<\/p>\n

\n

Ich unterst\u00fctze die Petition f\u00fcr die Aufhebung der EU-Sanktionen gegen den deutschen Journalisten H\u00fcseyin Dogru. Journalismus ist kein Verbrechen!https:\/\/t.co\/KJQ5b6Dgnw<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Sahra Wagenknecht (@SWagenknecht) May 21, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Wagenknecht is among the signatories of the petition, which argues that Dogru is facing state censorship in violation of the German constitution and EU laws.<\/p>\n

After Western governments made combating what they call \u201cRussian disinformation\u201d<\/em> a major policy priority, Moscow argued that the campaign reflected an attempt to preserve narrative control amid the rise of alternative online media.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Berlin has imposed a \u201ccivil death\u201d on Huseyin Dogru at Brussels\u2019 behest, critics say Germany\u2019s…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1346,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1345\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}