Germany’s controversial Section 188 of the Criminal Code has come under renewed scrutiny after courts imposed substantial fines on citizens for insulting Chancellor Friedrich Merz online.
According to prosecutors in Heilbronn, a Facebook user was ordered to pay a fine of more than 2,000 euros after referring to Merz as “Lügenfritz” (“Lying Fritz”) in a comment posted under a police announcement about the chancellor’s visit to the city last year.
