A German CDU councilor resigns after publishing a photograph with Nazi symbols

MADRID 10 Nov. () –

Bülent Büyükbayram, councilor for the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Delmenhorst, on the outskirts of Bremen, has resigned from his position following the controversy unleashed after publishing a photograph of an inflatable doll wearing a shirt of the Hamburg St Pauli football team with the phrase “Scheiss St Pauli” or “Shit St Pauli” with the two S’s in the first word imitating the spelling of the Nazi SS runes.

Büyükbayram published the image on his Facebook account and it has been shared by other users, so the German Prosecutor’s Office has already opened an investigation, since Nazi symbols are prohibited in the country, reports the newspaper ‘Bild’.

The president of the St Pauli club, Oke Goettlich, has warned that “slogans can be incendiary devices” and has asked to “take these offenses very seriously.” “We are studying possible legal measures, but we also assume that the use of SS runes will be prosecuted anyway,” he added.

A CDU spokesperson in Oldenburg has expressed his rejection of this expression. “We distance ourselves from any form of discrimination, glorification of violence or extremist symbols,” he noted.

The incident would be related to Büyükbayram’s proximity to the far-right ultras group Block H of the Atlas Delmenhorst team, facing the left-wing fans of St Pauli.