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A demonstration was organized on Saturday in front of the Wankdorf stadium in Bern, where the German group Rammstein was to perform in concert. Fabrice COFFRINI, AFP
“40,000 people who come to see a possible rapist, it’s totally scandalous,” said Mathilde Mottet, deputy secretary of the Young Socialists of Switzerland.
About 150 people demonstrated on Saturday in Bern, Switzerland in front of the stadium where German metal rock band Rammstein was to perform in front of 40,000 spectators, while its leader is under investigation for ault, noted AFP. Holding up signs saying “I believe her” Or “Stop Culture”, the small crowd challenged the band’s fans with, among other pleasantries, middle fingers, to which onlookers responded in kind and booed. A police cordon separated the two camps.
Lead singer Till Lindemann, 60, has been accused by several women of ault at backstage parties after the band’s concerts. What the singer denied through his lawyers. The Berlin public prosecutor’s office opened an investigation on Wednesday. The following day, production company Universal Music announced that it suspended all marketing activity and promotion of the group.
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The divided group
The case began at the end of May with the testimony of a 24-year-old Irish woman accusing the singer and the band’s lyricist of drugging and ly aulting her after a concert the same month in Lithuania. The success of Rammstein, the best-selling German-speaking group in the world, is based in particular on the excessiveness of the concerts, with a lot of pyrotechnics, guitar riffs and the imposing physical presence of Till Lindemann.
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In Bern, the accusations did not deter fans and the concert was sold out, without it being known whether or not the after-concert parties would be canceled as in Munich recently. “It doesn’t change anything for us”, said Marie Rouillon, a 51-year-old Frenchwoman, who came with her husband Arnaud, both fans of Rammstein for 15 years. If the accusations were to prove, it would be a shock, however concedes the couple: “But would that prevent us from going to see them? I do not think soadded Mary. Maybe it’s true, maybe not, I’m here for the concert”also approved Lara Andermatt, 20, enthusiastic about the idea of seeing her favorite group for the first time live.
The band are currently touring European stadiums. In Austria and Switzerland, calls for a boycott have been launched. He is also due to perform in Paris on July 22. Three concerts are planned in Berlin on July 15, 16 and 18. A petition launched by the Young Socialists of Switzerland gathered 7,500 signatures, but failed to have the two Bernese concerts banned. “We are clearly very disappointedcommented istant secretary Mathilde Mottet to AFP. You have 40,000 people coming to see a possible rapist, it’s totally outrageous.”.