Two years after describing the then-chairman of the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), Arne Schönbohm, as a security risk in an issue of ZDF Magazine Royale, he has now achieved a partial success in a legal dispute.
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The judges of the Munich I Regional Court looked into the episode “Cyberclown” of ZDF magazine Royale, in which presenter Jan Böhmermann alleged that then-BSI chairman Arne Schönbohm was unknowingly close to Russian secret service circles, that he had made untrue factual claims. Freedom of expression is not involved in the four cases.
The court stated that a “liberal standard” should be applied for satire. However, four of the five allegations in the program attacked by Schönbohm were untrue statements of fact that violated individual rights.
ZDF had always insisted that it had complied with all editorial due diligence requirements. Despite criticism from experts, moderator Jan Böhmermann himself reiterated that the allegations made against Schönbohm in the program were obvious, but true to the case and therefore fall within the scope of freedom of the press and the arts. Böhmermann stressed to Mastodon that the actions of the interior minister and the ministry are “their beer”.
Significant doubts about the care of the production company
The commissioning broadcaster, Second German Television (ZDF), is responsible for the content of the broadcast. This was what stood behind Böhmermann and his production from the beginning. However, the judges in Munich had already expressed considerable doubt during oral hearings in the summer that the editorial teams of the public broadcaster in Mainz and Böhmermann’s Cologne production company had acted with caution.
Bohmerman has been accused of not doing his job many times before. Some of his criticisms come from more political motivations, but also partly from factual concerns. In one case, the ZDF Television Council, which includes representatives of social groups, decided that a program should subsequently be removed from the media library.
However, Schönbohm was unsuccessful in demanding monetary compensation of at least 100,000 euros for the damage caused to his reputation. Here the judges saw two reasons why this claim should not be recognized: First, Schönbohm could have first used other legal remedies – such as demanding rectification from the broadcaster or bringing a claim for injunctive relief.
The 26th Civil Chamber found that monetary compensation for the press was acceptable only as a last resort. The decision of the LG Munich I is not legally binding, appeal is possible to a higher regional court.
Schönbohm is also suing the Interior Ministry
Legal clarification of the question to what extent ZDF and Böhmermans Magazine Royale editors breached their duty of care is the first part of Schönböhm’s effort to at least to some extent restore his reputation. Shortly after the October 2022 broadcast, Federal Interior Minister Nancy Feser (SPD) publicly interrogated Schönbohm, who was close to the CDU, and then deposed and removed him from office at the time.
This process is legally independent from another lawsuit by Schönbohm, which is to be heard before the Cologne Administrative Court in January and is directed against the Federal Interior Ministry – Schönbohm accuses BMI of his duty of care as a civil servant. Accused of violating. : Instead of protecting him from false and exaggerated claims, to protect the allegations, the Feser-led ministry prevented him and the BSI from publicly refuting the allegations made by Böhmermann and also did not support the official. Schönbohm accused the employer of deliberately publicly firing her when it was clear that the allegations against her were unfair.
Since the BSI presidents up to and including Arne Schönbohm were not so-called political officials, the BMI could not put them into temporary retirement. When Schönbohm could not be accused of any wrongdoing despite an intensive investigation, he was to be assigned a different assignment commensurate with his salary level. Schönbohm was then appointed president of the Federal Academy for Public Administration, where secret service personnel are also trained. With a change in function, which is possible under civil service law, BMI temporarily escaped legal clarification just weeks after the Böhmermann broadcast. However, the Cologne administrative judge will pay very careful attention to the factual investigation of his Munich judge colleagues.
(Mac)
