Scientist Ulrich Kutschera in the courtroom © Goran Gehlen
University professor Kutschera has been sentenced to a fine at Kassel District Court for his homophobic remarks. The biologist wants to appeal. The proceedings are expected to continue at the district court.
The criminal case around controversial statements of the Kasseler biologist Ulrich Kutschera to the topic Homosexualitat goes presumably into a new round. Kutschera, who was sentenced on Monday by the Kassel District Court to a fine of 6.000 euros had been sentenced, has since appealed, said the spokesman for the district court, Mario Hirdes, on Tuesday. The case is likely to be brought before the Kassel Regional Court.
Homophobic statements of the university professor
The district court had ruled that Kutschera's interview remarks were not covered by academic freedom. In an interview with the Internet portal kath.net, the evolutionary biologist had claimed in 2017 with regard to the adoption right for homosexual couples, among other things: "Should the adoption right for man-man or woman-woman erotic unions come, I see state-sponsored pedophilia and severe child abuse coming our way."In the interview, the biologist also described homosexual couples as "sterile, asexual erotic duos with no reproductive potential".
University of Kassel distances itself
Kutschera holds the Chair of Plant Physiology and the Department of Evolutionary Biology at the University of Kassel. The university had distanced itself from Kutschera on several occasions. Whose statements "outrage", it was said in a statement on Monday evening. The university pointed out that the first-instance ruling is not yet legally binding. "For civil servant university teachers, the Hessian Disciplinary Act applies, according to which possible disciplinary proceedings are suspended until a final judgment has been reached in criminal proceedings on the same matter," the University of.
"Looking positively to the future," however, the university could report that the appointment process for the 65-year-old Kutschera's successor was "on a very good track" and a call had already been ied. "Discrimination and insults against minorities and diverse ways of life do not belong at the University of Kassel," it said.