So, let's officially open the press conference.
It's great that so many people are here.
I think SWR also wanted to come by and make an original recording. If he's already here, he can come to the front.
And yes, in the run-up to the demonstration there were again various attempts by the assembly
authorities to make the demonstration smaller and prevent it.
Thanks to Mr. Flüttwig, who will certainly be able to explain this in legal terms. That's why we've
managed to ensure that everything is largely permitted.
Another major point of criticism is that sales stands are prohibited unless they
have been approved by the district authority.
Many people registered here with the district office in good time. And the district office simply didn't get back to them and
played dead. And unfortunately the police are now enforcing this.
That means a lot of people have come here. And I just don't think it's right that the Mitte district office is
refusing to do its job here. And of course the demonstrations are also hindered by this.
Otherwise, some of you may have already seen it: The demo elevator is relatively long.
In other words, we are looking forward to seeing what comes next.
There are 40 information stands here. There will also be 25 demo trucks.
We will also be organizing the lateral thinking camp here on this street from tomorrow.
Things are going haywire now, so we will have more time.
So if any of the press would like a longer interview, please come back here tomorrow. Thank you very much.
We'll be there all day and then we can talk for longer.
[Yes, I also wanted to say something briefly.
In principle, another request to the press representatives.
Please take photos and videos at the back of the star.
We didn't get the star because of the construction work you see back there.
You can see that the traffic is moving, there's nothing there. It was supposed to be built for VeloCity.
And the police actually told the administrative court once again that the area at the back is completely closed.
That is why the star is not for this assembly and that it can be available for the assembly.
We can see that this is not true.
This is generally referred to as litigation fraud.
And I would simply like to have videos, photos and so on throughout the day so that the court can then be informed in the
main proceedings that the police clearly lied in court in order not to give us this star, in order to give us this symbolic
place where we held the second major demonstration in 2020.
And I would simply ask for support to take photos and videos back there from time to time. And that is also a very
good point. So that we can document it and then send it to Querdenken via the Querdenken 711 page.
Thank you very much.
And otherwise, it's best if you ask questions and we answer them.
Mr. Ballweg, do you have any feedback on how many participants are now on the elevator that has set off?
So I only have the information that it is about 40 minutes long. Anyone can work out how long the demonstration will be.
We're demonstrating without one today, there are no distances.
And that's why I suspect that the assembly area is not sufficient here.
We also informed the police in advance that we needed a larger area.
This was rejected.
That's why we actually wanted to have the star and, of course, Klingelhöferstrasse on the other side.
But the police or the decision also states that it will be expanded if there is a need.
What is your core concern today? What is your core concern today? Here you can see what's on your mind.
Yes, as in 2020, my core concern is the issue of fundamental rights.
Of course, there is also the issue of peace, the issue of coming to terms with the past and, in particular, the issue of change.
Many initiatives have now come together.
We can also see that here in the many stands that are there, but also in the demo trucks that are now
saying: I'm building the world the way we like it.
The other side ignores us by saying that they devalue us. Now that's optimism.
And that is why we will be presenting many offers for change today.
What does your event cost?
How do you finance them?
Do you have the option of accessing your assets?
And don't the expenses incurred today have an influence or shouldn't they have an influence on the charges
brought by the Stuttgart public prosecutor's office?
At the moment I'm financing the demo by working a bit as a digital activist.
I no longer have a bank account.
That means there is still a big gap and I hope that this gap will be closed today. In the form that people will
be found who will put something in the donation boxes.
However, there is also the option of paying for demo equipment directly.
So if there are now entrepreneurs, there is a form on our website where you can say, I am prepared to pay for a second pit tower.
For me, it's just that I always accept the challenge that comes my way.
The situation now is simply that I don't have an account to collect the donations.
And I'm taking this as a homework assignment - I'm a pioneer, after all - to think about how we can
finance demos in a decentralized way in the future.
Decentralized financing will be such that people can simply pay for parts of the demo, a grid, a pit tower, a platform, a camera.
How much do they cost? About 150,000 to 200,000 euros.
And you are now answering the question about the public prosecutor's office?
Yes, so the question you asked in relation to whether this has an impact on the procedure.
This question is indeed part of this procedure.
That was also part of the detention review, the higher administration, the Higher Regional Court in
Stuttgart, assumed that if you receive money as a gift or donation for a meeting, you have to spend it immediately.
So we asked about that. Okay, if I get 500 euros donated at 5 p.m. on December 31 of a year, by when do I have to have spent it?
Because the Higher Regional Court could not even imagine that Mr. Ballweg would continue to hold events and
that the money you claim to have found on him would not have been spent on the meetings.
But we have now proven, also through the tax returns, that Mr. Ballweg has spent more money than he has earned.
And we don't know now either, it starts in Stuttgart on October 2, so if you're interested, it starts
in Stuttgart on October 2. That's the main hearing.
The court probably thought to itself, "Gosh, there are so many lateral thinkers in Germany,
that's why we're having more than 70 trial days.
I assume we probably have 50 spectators there and they thought they could come by to see Mr. Ballweg in person.
So we have 70 trial days.
I don't know what the court wants to hear, i.e. what you want to examine.
We're very excited, we're a great team of lawyers and we're looking forward to it a bit because that's
exactly what you're saying. They are actually completely blank, they have nothing in their hands.
In the meantime, tax returns have already shown that more money was spent than was received.
But what you say, even if the public prosecutor's office were to uphold its claim, yes, but there is still more money left over,
then you would have to deduct that from it here, for example.
[And yes, it will be exciting to see what the public prosecutor's office has chosen. Perhaps, if there are so many people here now,
I'll say this briefly, Mr. Ballweg has been charged with this. He is accused of having received personal money,
money at his disposal, which he should have been allowed to spend on himself as personal money.
However, he had not known that it was his own money, but had thought it was money from the
organization Querdenken, which was alien to his nature.
And that's why he tried to cheat Querdenken out of the money he spent on himself.
In case anyone hasn't understood that, we lawyers feel the same way, but the public
prosecutor's office thinks it's a criminal offense.
In short, if you spend your own money without knowing that it is your own money, that is a criminal offense. So, if you find 10
euros on the kitchen table at home and think, oh, someone has lost 10 euros, I'll take them and spend them, and these 10
euros are your own, then you have made yourself liable to prosecution for a so-called attempted, unsuitable attempt.
Did I understand you correctly that the Stuttgart public prosecutor's office, that you are in contact with
them and that they are refusing to pay today's costs?
Or have I misunderstood you? Did you misunderstand me?
The Stuttgart public prosecutor's office is not interested at all.
So maybe they're looking at it?
Perhaps we have now convinced them of this in the many discussions that Mr. Ballweg has had with them.
Perhaps they have now also had a look at the RKI files.
So it may well be that they are now on our side.
We don't know that. No, but we are not in contact with them.
We are looking forward to Dr. Gräfe in the criminal proceedings and will then see what comes out of it.
As I said, 70 trial days have been scheduled.
I don't know why, but we will of course bring these things up.
[But first the state has to prove that Mr. Ballweg has committed a crime and not the other
way around, we have to prove that he has not.
Exactly, and I would also like to say something about proportionality.
So the Cum-Ex process was of course shorter and the process in Munich with Wirecard was similarly long.
But it wasn't about 1.2 million, it was about billions.
And no, I didn't get anything back.
So far, everything has been confiscated or seized.
Does anyone else have a question?
Yes, what other obstacles were there?
So you were supposed to start without a backstage area and who knows what else, how did that
develop and how did you manage to start it in the end?
Well, what we noticed was that on February 21, Mr. Ballweg registered or reported the meeting to
the authorities in Berlin and nothing happened.
The only answer that came back was Straße des 17. Juni, Stern - all not free.
And then, through various helpers here, this team tried to find places or locations where the demonstration could take place.
And the city of Berlin has completely disappeared, has not given any feedback.
And we only got the Hofjägerallee after I intervened as a lawyer on June 17 and said, now you have
to finally tell us where we can hold this meeting.
We see that this is free, nothing is registered, we want it, including the star by the way.
And then the police, actually only then, so you have to imagine, I think on July 24th or something. So sometime
between the 17th and the 24th, the location was clear.
And from then on, the police said, yes, but now we need to set up. So they wanted assembly plans beforehand, they
wanted to know what weight, how things were positioned.
And we said, guys, we don't even know where yet, but you want to know what it's going to be like.
So there was pressure right from the start, although they were still relatively nice at the beginning.
And then there was an initial cooperation meeting, which was actually relatively good.
We were largely in agreement, but then the police leadership was replaced.
So that was absolutely clear, it shouldn't be the nice ones, it should be the others here.
And then there were an incredible number of bureaucratic obstacles.
For example, the Berlin Freedom of Assembly Act does not stipulate that you have to register stands with the district office.
Unfortunately, I didn't get that through the administrative court so quickly, because the Berlin Freedom of Assembly Act, for
example, says that if there's a rock-against-the-right concert here, then of course the artists are allowed to offer their CDs
and T-shirts there and then of course catering is also allowed.
And all without a special use permit, because the law says here that the special use permit is included in the right
of assembly and that is what the assembly authority does.
[We will clarify this in the main proceedings, we are learning.
But there are obstacles, no drinks stands are allowed, no food stands are allowed, the artists who are here are not allowed
to offer their CDs and T-shirts, not even for a donation.
Then motorhomes should be banned, because motorhomes are not necessary for a camp.
The reason given was that you could go to the nearby hotels, yes, or camp here on the hard ground.
Various things, i.e. bureaucratic obstacles were placed in the way wherever possible.
So we should, they didn't give us the expansion areas, they didn't give us the star.
Here on Hofjägerallee, for example, the camp is to take place on the east side and cars
are to drive through again on the west side.
In other words, people who, according to the police, should camp there and be protected by this median strip.
Things like that just happened.
So it's always little things where they just try to obstruct and that's why we went to court and were
largely proved right in court, for example the motorhomes.
Exactly, there should be no backstage area or only a small backstage area. Again, there shouldn't be
a press area, so the press shouldn't be protected.
Then the police even said they would set up a press area.
That's very, very strange.
There is no need for a press area, but the police would set one up.
And all such things, so it was always these little things that then get into the details to
hinder such an already difficult organization.
[The funniest thing is that in the declaration on immediate enforceability, it is normally the case that a
regulation made by an authority is not immediately enforceable.
And they accidentally took the text module from Corona times.
They said that the press area was not useful because, when weighing up the interests, the life and limb
of others would be more important than holding this demonstration without a press area.
In other words, it was the coronavirus argument that they used.
The judge noticed that too.
She then tried to weigh it a little straighter.
But in fact it's quite clear, and you just noticed that in the conversation with the police commander, from my point of view,
they have prejudices against the people who come here and try to prevent people from taking to the streets
and speaking their minds because of these prejudices.
I mean, we're here in Berlin, Nancy Faeser comes from Berlin, so I don't have to say much.
Here, this place is not the place of freedom of expression.
I have to correct myself: this place is now the place of freedom of expression.
It has been kept a bit of a secret as to which program items we are about to experience.
Mr. Ballweg, can you tell us anything yet? No.
Okay, I'm spoiling a bit, Mr. Ballweg will be on stage.
So we don't say it for that reason, perhaps to explain: Hopefully people now come to demonstrations because they want to demonstrate
for themselves and not because speaker XY is on stage.
We hadn't announced it on 01.08.2020. Everyone came anyway. There wasn't much there on 29.08.2020 either.
It has always worked, so we don't make much of the people.
[Yes, Erik Rusch, Epoch Times. What is the content of this 14-day camp supposed to be? What is supposed to happen there?
Yes, we have, as I mentioned earlier, the offers of change that exist. And the demonstration was always a good
networking opportunity in the sense that people got to know each other. So that they know, okay, who offers what.
I would say that the coronavirus has prevented these initiatives from coming together and networking.
It was well covered by the DieBasis party, which then found an organization for it.
But there are also many cross-party initiatives that can now simply present their concepts.
Tomorrow, for example, there will be another big demonstration by this Momo movement for new monetary systems.
So we will have intensive discussions about all the models that are currently floating around, whether it's free schools, whether
it's perhaps a different monetary system, whether it needs different technologies,
whether it needs different healthcare concepts.
Everyone can come and present their concepts and then find people who are interested in them. And
then you can join forces and implement the projects.
So that's the space for debate that we offer, that there is always room to say things,
but then also to unite and implement things.
[Good afternoon. As you know, the mainstream media keep reporting that right-wingers are meeting here.
How do you feel about this and what do you say? What should I say? I'll have to think about it for a moment.
So I don't pay any attention to these messages because I know that they are false and that they are propaganda.
And we experienced this from the first demonstration at the Cannstatter Wasen.
So it wasn't a new situation for me.
For those who joined on August 1 or later, it was perhaps a new situation.
But there are now great, new, free media that also report truthfully. And I'm happy to give them my energy.
Has communication with the police improved?
Are they better in terms of behavior than, let's say, three years ago?
So of course we had difficulties beforehand. But we are working together operationally here
and so far there is nothing to complain about.
We have a great contact person. So far, everything is fine.
Is there any contact with the train that is currently running?
Yes, I'm standing here right now, so I can't tell you anything.
But we should actually have the pictures of the train up there.
That would be the next thing we would bring in up here.
[If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.
We're doing this demonstration now, because all my accounts have been seized.
My office is, so the proceeds from the sale of my house have also been arrested.
In other words, we actually organized this demonstration completely virtually, in
the sense that everyone worked from home.
We've now spent the last two weeks in a beautiful location near Berlin, where we've all been working together.
We realized once again how important this physical proximity is.
And yes, the challenge now will be to manage this financially, because everything I receive
in my accounts will be seized again immediately.
So, we'll do one more question and then we'll finish.
You should come to the front of this section or I will repeat your question.
How are you feeling right now?
Yes, I feel great. It's been a very exhausting few weeks.
I've been told that I look surprisingly relaxed.
There is a great team that you have already seen working in the background.
I saw the elevator, I saw the people are all back.
I am delighted that there is so much change in Germany and that we are helping to shape it.
And today we are kicking off the process of channeling this change and bringing you back together.
Thank you very much. And the hat for the donations.
Sorry? And the hat for the donations.
Yes, there will indeed be donation boxes afterwards, but at the moment we are still preparing them.
That would be great. You can do it like this.
Thank you. Thank you very much. Yes, thank you very much.
We'll do the program up here. Hopefully the elevator will appear soon.
And then we can see how it comes in. There will be meditation from 3 pm.
Our wonderful monk, Dada, is here again with his team.
And then it starts punctually at 3.30 pm.
Thank you very much.