Right-wing media launch campaign against Sascha Staničić, a member of the Left Party and Sol (CWI Germany)

SSt 2 — Sascha Staničić, member of Sozialistische Organisation Solidarität (Sol – section of the CWI in Germany) and Die Linke (the Left Party)

The following is a personal statement by Sascha Staničić regarding the allegations made by the right-wing media portal ‘Nius’:

On 22 June, the right-wing media portal ‘Nius’ and Julius Böhm published various articles on their website and social media channels, respectively, in which they allege that, at the recent national party conference of Die Linke, I called for the murder of, amongst others, capitalists and racists.1

I categorically reject these allegations. Anyone with common sense who watches my speech as a candidate standing for the party executive will realise that this interpretation of my words is completely unfounded.

I said, verbatim:

“I want to play my part in building a mass party that will strike fear into the hearts of the capitalists, the racists, the social parasites and the warmongers, and put an end to them.”

Böhm portrays this as a “clear-cut incitement to murder”, whilst Nius labels me a “left-wing fanatic” and writes: “According to the Duden dictionary, the phrase ‘to put an end to someone’ means ‘to kill someone, to murder them’.”

However, if one reads and listens to what I actually said, it becomes clear that I am talking about building a political party that will put a stop to the activities of capitalists, racists, social predators and warmongers and bring their schemes to an end. In doing so, I am relying on mass protests, strikes and the self-organisation of the working population. This is what I advocated at the Left Party conference.

Indeed, even the AI summary that Böhm displays in his video explains the meaning of the phrase ‘den Garaus machen’ as ‘or to bring a definitive end to a matter’. Nius also fails to mention that the Duden dictionary states the phrase is ‘usually used colloquially and jokingly’.

“To finish someone off” is a common expression, not least in political debate. Angela Merkel, for example, once called at a CDU party conference for “finishing off the Red-Green coalition”. 2 There are many other instances in which this phrase has been used without any attempt to make a scandal out of it. 3

Nius’s campaign is part of a series of attempts by capitalist media to defame members of Die Linke and the Left Youth, and to accuse them, amongst other things, of harbouring violent fantasies. The aim is to intimidate socialist forces and drive them into a corner. Due to the defamatory content, I am currently considering legal action against the publication.

Right-wing populist media outlets, such as Nius, like to pretend they are against the mainstream. Nius describes itself as the ‘voice of the majority’. Yet behind such media outlets lie powerful economic forces and the interests of an elitist minority who are keen to divert attention from the real causes of social cuts, wage dumping, exorbitant rents and military build-up. For instance, the multi-millionaire and software entrepreneur Frank Gotthardt is the majority shareholder of VIUS SE & Co. KGaA, which operates Nius.

The embarrassing and ostentatious outrage displayed by Nius and Böhm has singled me out. However, it is the entire Die Linke party that is being targeted, along with the socialist policies that are urgently needed to improve the living conditions of the working majority.

Solidarity and protests are requested

Please support the Solidarity message (in German) at

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf3d50neO-SZqfv_17YUVCJLWB79QIgrUdCa6JPYN_ykfHtPw/viewform?usp=header

Footnote links to German language websites :

https://nius.de/politik/linker-ruft-zu-mord-an-kapitalisten-auf; https://nius.de/clips/mordaufruf-am-rednerpult; https://x.com/julius__boehm/status/2069032357303046150; https://www.facebook.com/reel/4522951404595098; https://www.instagram.com/p/DZ40EFEsL5_/