Antonio Rudiger has broken his silence after the German star was accused of supporting terrorism.
Earlier this month, Rudiger, a devout Muslim, posted a photo on Instagram of himself in a white robe on a prayer rug pointing the index finger of his right hand toward the sky.
The Real Madrid defender accompanied the March 13 publication with the legend: ‘Ramadan Mubarak to all Muslims in the world. May the almighty accept our fasts and prayers #AlwaysBelieve.’
However, on Sunday, former BILD editor Julian Reichelt lashed out at Rudiger and accused him of having links to terrorism.
He posted on clear of Islam.’
Antonio Rudiger has responded after a former BILD editor linked the German star to terrorism.
The defender harshly criticized the “unfounded accusations” and asked for “peace and tolerance”
Rudiger and the German Football Association (DFB) have since announced that they will be taking legal action against Reichelt following his shocking claims.
And on Wednesday afternoon, Rudiger, who featured in Germany’s victories against France and the Netherlands last week, spoke for the first time about the saga, responding to the “baseless accusations.”
“To mark the beginning of Lent, I published a post on Instagram,” he said BILD. ‘This has already been publicly visible for 13 days (since March 11) and has reached several million followers without any criticism from anyone.
But in recent days the photograph has been used by individuals to make unfounded accusations.
‘The gesture I used is called finger tawhid. In Islam, this is considered a symbol of the unity and oneness of God. The gesture is widespread among Muslims around the world and only in recent days has the Federal Ministry of the Interior classified it as non-problematic.
‘As a devout Muslim, I practice my faith, but I firmly distance myself from any type of extremism and accusations of Islamism. Violence and terrorism are absolutely unacceptable. I defend peace and tolerance.
‘Many of my family members belong to different religions. However, we respect each other and celebrate religious holidays together. Respect and tolerance are fundamental principles that we all represent in our family.’
Rudiger continued to respond to Reichelt and his supporters, while calling for an end to the division in society.
He added: “However, I also recognize that due to insufficient attention, I have given third parties the opportunity to deliberately misinterpret my post to divide and polarize.”
“But I am not going to offer a platform for division and radicalization, which is why I have decided to make a clear statement after our two successful international matches.
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Julian Reichelt has since doubled down on his views linking Rudiger’s gesture to terrorism.
‘At the same time, I will not allow myself to be insulted and denigrated as an Islamist. That’s why I decided to present a report. It is about propaganda and division; I will always defend myself resolutely against this.
‘I hope this clarification helps clear up misunderstandings and bring the truth to light. “I also want to thank the DFB, which supported me at all times in this matter.”
Rudiger’s criminal complaint against Reichelt to the Berlin prosecutor’s office arose “for insult or slander, inflammatory insult and sedition,” according to the complaint.
The DFB also filed a complaint and reported Reichelt’s tweet to the prosecutor’s office as “hate speech.” BILD also received mail from Rudiger’s lawyers.
In a letter to BILD editor-in-chief Marion Horn, they “warn” against “inflammatory statements to the detriment of our client.”
However, Reichelt issued a response on X on Monday night in which he doubled down on his comments about Rudiger.
He wrote: ‘This gesture has been completely co-opted by terrorists over the last two decades. It has become indisputably the greeting of ISIS and Islamist murderers around the world, of people who also murdered in Berlin and bring disaster and immeasurable suffering to the world.
‘Whoever poses like this in public consciously shows a fanatical greeting and not an innocent and spiritual gesture. It is a normalization of a terrible ideology that has already taken up too much space in this country.
Rudiger and the German Football Federation (DFB) take legal action against Reichelt
Rudiger played the full 90 minutes of Germany’s victories against France and the Netherlands.
‘In addition, and especially because he is a popular national player, you should not be intimidated. It is important to note that this political ideology goes against everything our values are.
‘The raised index finger of Islam, with which terrorists around the world celebrate their murders, does not belong to Germany. I’ll never let anyone stop me from saying that.’
When asked about the meaning of the symbol, Germany’s Federal Ministry of the Interior responded to BILD: “From the perspective of the IMC, the so-called ‘tauhid’ finger should be understood as a confession of faith and is therefore not considered problematic with respect to public safety.
“This applies regardless of the fact that Islamist groups appropriate this symbol and misuse it for their own purposes.”