German court fines man for insulting Chancellor Merz on social media

A German court has ordered a man to pay a fine for insulting Chancellor Friedrich Merz on social media, ruling that the remark crossed into defamation rather than protected political criticism.

The Heilbronn court found that calling Merz a "Lackaffe" — a German insult literally meaning "varnished monkey" and roughly equivalent to calling someone a foppish dandy — was not legitimate political expression.

The court imposed a fine, though authorities declined to disclose the amount, citing privacy rules that prevent conclusions about the defendant's income.

According to the German news agency dpa, the penalty order is not yet final. The man has filed an objection.

In a separate case, prosecutors in Heilbronn dropped an investigation into a retired man who compared Merz to Pinocchio in a Facebook comment, using a long-nosed emoji to accuse the chancellor of breaking promises.

Prosecutors determined the comment constituted permissible criticism of those in power and was protected under freedom of expression, a spokesman for the Heilbronn public prosecutor's office said.