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Dr Paul Brandenburg, a German physician and publicist, has been held in pre-trial detention at Berlin-Moabit prison since 28 October 2026 — 10 days as of today. He has not been tried, let alone convicted. The case concerns six statements he made about Berlin's Governing Mayor Kai Wegner in the autumn of 2025: four counts of insult and two of defamation. He is not being held because of what he said, but on the ground of flight: he deregistered his residence in Germany and has no registered German address. For offences of this kind German law normally provides for a fine.

Key facts

Person	Dr Paul Brandenburg, physician and publicist, born 1978 in West Berlin
Arrested	28 October 2026, on arrival at Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER), in the presence of his ten-year-old child
Held at	Justizvollzugsanstalt Moabit, Alt-Moabit 12a, 10559 Berlin
Days in detention	10 (as of 7 November 2026)
Charges	Six statements about Kai Wegner, Governing Mayor of Berlin, from autumn 2025 — four counts of insult (§ 185 StGB), two of defamation of a person in political life (§ 188(2) StGB)
Ground for detention	Flight / risk of flight (§ 112 StPO). The reasoning rests on the absence of a registered residence in Germany, not on the content of the statements.
Investigation	238 Js 91/26, Public Prosecutor's Office Berlin
Arrest warrant	348 Gs 3565/26, Tiergarten District Court, Judge Dr Fricke
Defence	Markus Haintz (Haintz legal Rechtsanwalts-GmbH) and Viktoria Dannenmaier
Status	No trial date, no indictment, no verdict. On applications and on the further course of the proceedings, only the defence speaks — please address such questions to Markus Haintz.

Case numbers and the wording of the charges were made public by the defence counsel himself.

Timeline

• The six statements are published; the first on 30 October 2025.Autumn 2025
• Wegner’s CDU loses the Berlin election; he was no longer its lead candidate and stays on as caretaker.20 Sept 2026
• Paul Brandenburg is arrested at BER airport on arrival and taken to Moabit prison.28 Oct 2026
• His counsel publishes the wording of all six charges and the case numbers.30 Oct 2026
• 10 days in pre-trial detention. No trial, no verdict.Today

Why this is of public interest

• Detention, not sentence. Pre-trial detention is intended to secure proceedings, not to punish. Every day served is later deducted from any sentence (§ 51 StGB). For offences of this kind without previous convictions, German law normally provides for a fine (§ 47 StGB).
• The ground is residence, not speech. Anyone who deregisters from Germany — and millions of Germans live abroad — can under this reading be considered a fugitive. The code provides for milder measures (§ 116 StPO) and for a specific procedure where there is no domestic residence (§ 132 StPO).
• The statements concern a politician. § 188 StGB provides a higher penalty where the person insulted holds political office. The provision exists to protect political debate; here it is the reason the case carries greater weight.

About this page

This page is run by people close to him, and it says so at the top. It is not neutral, but it tries to be accurate.

As for every accused person, the presumption of innocence applies.

Material and contact

• Portrait photograph. Available on request. Please ask before publishing — the rights are not ours to give away.
• The charges in full, with the background and its sources: freepaulbrandenburg.de/en/charges
• Signatures. The petition on this site uses double opt-in: every signature counted has a working email address whose confirmation link was clicked. Current figures and the list of signatories: freepaulbrandenburg.de/en/signatories
• Enquiries to this page: kontakt@freepaulbrandenburg.de
• Questions about the proceedings belong to the defence, not to us. Markus Haintz comments publicly on the case.

We are not the defence and give no legal assessments. Where a figure on this page is wrong, please tell us — it will be corrected.