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CRIME

Drunk bicyclist fined after asking police for alcohol test

A drunk bicyclist got more than he bargained for when he went into a police station in the middle of the night and asked them to test his alcohol level.

Published: 18 October 2009 13:30 CEST
Drunk bicyclist fined after asking police for alcohol test
Obviously a file photo. Photo: DPA

The 43-year-old man staggered into the Bischofsheim, Hesse police station at around 4:15 am on Sunday and told the officers he had drunk as much as he could, and would like to know what his blood alcohol level was.

The officers obliged, measuring a level of 1.97 millilitres per litre, or 0.197 percent, well over the legal limit for operating a vehicle.

Because the man had shown up on a bike, the police charged him with drunk driving – for which he would have lost his driving license – had he had one.

A police spokesman said the man is likely to be fined a month’s income and will be barred from applying for a driving license for a number of months.

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ANTI-SEMITISM

German anti-Semitism official slams Pink Floyd’s Waters for ‘Nazi’ suit

Germany's official in charge of fighting anti-Semitism called Saturday for Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters to be held accountable after the singer donned a Nazi-style uniform at a Berlin concert.

Published: 27 May 2023 08:53 CEST
German anti-Semitism official slams Pink Floyd's Waters for 'Nazi' suit

Previous legal proceedings had “gone in Waters’s favour, even though he spreads anti-Semitism and allegedly incites hatred”, Felix Klein told the Funke media group.

Berlin police said Friday they were probing Waters after images of the Pink Floyd co-founder circulated on social media, showing him wearing a long, black coat with red armbands on stage at the Mercedes-Benz arena last week.

Law enforcement was investigating the “suspicion of incitement to public hatred because the clothing worn on stage could be used to glorify or justify Nazi rule”, a police spokesman told AFP.

Klein called on authorities to be “vigilant” following the incident.

“Concert organisers should consider whether they want to offer conspiracy theorists a platform,” he said.

Waters is a well-known pro-Palestinian activist who has been accused of holding anti-Jewish views. He has floated an inflatable pig emblazoned with the Star of David at his concerts.

Waters has played in several German cities in recent weeks as part of his “This Is Not A Drill” tour.

But it has been hugely controversial with some city officials even trying, unsuccessfully, to ban him from performing.

The “Another Brick In The Wall” singer denies the anti-Semitism accusations, saying he was protesting against Israeli policies and not the Jewish people.

He posted a statement on Twitter on Friday evening saying that the elements of his performance that had been questioned were “quite clearly a statement in opposition to fascism, injustice, and bigotry in all its forms”.

At the same Berlin concert, Waters also flashed the names of several deceased people on a large screen, including that of Anne Frank, the Jewish teenager who died in a Nazi concentration camp.

Also named was slain Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, prompting criticism that Waters was relativising the Holocaust.

Waters is due to play his final German concert in the western city of Frankfurt on Sunday evening, and protesters are planning to demonstrate outside the venue.

Frankfurt city authorities sought to stop the concert but a court ruled against them, citing artistic freedom.

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