DE: Higher Administrative Court affirms right to information versus Foreign Office
Tobias Raab
On 30 December 2016, the Higher Administrative Court (Oberverwaltungsgericht, OVG) of Berlin-Brandenburg decided that, the German newspaper Tagesspiegel does have a right to access of information of the Federal Foreign Office regarding the legal assessment of the so called “Schmähgedicht“ (case no. OVG 6 S 29.16).
The German TV host Jan Böhmermann had read that poem during an episode of his late night show „Neo Magazin Royal“ as a reaction to the politics of Turkish president Erdogan. Böhmermann read passages about zoophilia and violence against women. He also pointed out the difference between lawful satire and defamation. After the…
