German Man Fined $1,600 For Wearing Pro-Russian Invasion Shirt To Work

A court in the central German state of Hesse has fined an electrician for wearing a T-shirt that featured a Russian pro-war symbol to work.

The man, an unnamed 49-year-old Russian-born German citizen, has been ordered to transfer 1,500 euros ($1,635) to Aktion Deutschland Hilft, a network of humanitarian aid agencies that provides donations to war-torn areas such as Ukraine, German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) reported.

He received the penalty after he wore a black T-shirt that had a large white "Z" printed on it to his workplace in the town of Walluf, according to the outlet.

The symbol, a reproduction of the letter Z, was seen painted on some Russian military vehicles in the invasion of Ukraine, and it has become a pro-war motif in Russia.

Using the symbol on clothing or any corresponding context is punishable in Germany because it represents the approval of a war of aggression that violates international law, German state-owned broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported.

Simply displaying the "Z" symbol in public is considered a criminal offense because, according to criminal law, it is "capable of disturbing the public peace," Wiesbaden District Judge Carina Steinhauser said.

The man who was fined for wearing a T-shirt with the symbol to work was not aware he was committing a crime, he claimed.

A Russian friend had brought the shirt, and the man wore it as a counterpoint to the Ukrainian flag that was hoisted at his company's building following the invasion of Ukraine.

The man, who moved from Russia to Germany in 1992, now regrets his choice of clothing, and he has "banished" the T-shirt to the closet after his boss asked him about it, per FAZ.

He also told the court he regrets his choice of media as he mainly got information about the world and current developments from Russian sources, which led him to believe that Nazis had come to power in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed the goal of his country's unprovoked assault was to "denazify" Ukraine.

However, the current Ukrainian government is not associated with the German Nazi Party.

Ukraine's democratically elected president, Volodymyr Zelensky, is also Jewish and has relatives who fought in the Soviet Army against the Nazis in World War II, The Washington Post reported.

The Wiesbaden man, who has a 15-year-old son, has expressed interest in watching more German news after the son of a close friend died in Russia's invasion.

Steinhauser, with consent from the public prosecutor and defense attorney in the case, will drop criminal proceedings against the man if he pays his fine on time.

The fine will be split into five 300-euro installments.