The Leipzig public prosecutor's office sees no reason for new investigations in the Gil Ofarim case. There is "no reason to pursue mere repetitions of assumptions and insinuations of alleged manipulation of recordings that are ultimately not relevant to the proceedings", said senior public prosecutor Ricardo Schulz, spokesman for the public prosecutor's office, in response to an inquiry from the German Press Agency.
Later statements do not lead to a retrial
The public prosecutor's office also ruled out consequences for Ofarim himself. "With the full payment of the court-ordered fine, the criminal proceedings against Gil Ofarim were finally discontinued by the Leipzig Regional Court on August 21, 2024." This means that the charges against the defendant can no longer be pursued again in new proceedings. The decision cannot be appealed. Ofarim's retrospective statements can therefore not lead to the criminal proceedings being reopened.
This discontinuation of proceedings is not an acquittal, the authorities added. According to the express diction of the Leipzig Regional Court, the confession, the apology to the injured party and the fulfilment of the court's conditions eliminated the public interest in the prosecution and no verdict was necessary.
Investigating authority sees only repetitions of earlier statements
"The statements made by Gil Ofarim in recent days are ultimately only repetitions from the criminal trial of November 2023 for the public prosecutor's office. In this trial, the defense of the defendant at the time also pointed out alleged inconsistencies and possible manipulation of a video recording, as a few seconds were missing," said Schulz. At the same time, however, the defense also emphasized that the video was not decisive for the evidence.
