In August 2023, Julian Reichelt, a former editor-in-chief of “Bild”, made a critical statement on a short message service about the German government’s alleged payment of 370 million euros in development aid to the Taliban. This led to a dispute between Reichelt and the federal government, which challenged his statement in court. The Berlin Court of Appeal ultimately banned the statement as an untrue statement of fact in November 2023.
Reichelt felt that his freedom of expression had been violated and took his case to the Federal Constitutional Court. The court agreed with his argument that his right to freedom of expression had been infringed upon. They emphasized the importance of considering the linguistic context of a statement when assessing its validity, highlighting how the Court of Appeal had failed to do so and resulting in an incorrect decision.
The court emphasized that while state institutions should be protected from verbal attacks, they should also be open to public criticism as guaranteed by the fundamental right of freedom of expression. Criticism, even if it mixes facts and opinions, is protected under the law.
As a result, the Federal Constitutional Court overturned the Berlin decision and referred the case back to the Court of Appeal for further consideration. This was a significant victory for Reichelt in defending his right to freedom of expression in the face of government criticism.