A 67-year-old retired Bavarian woman had a conviction confirmed for “insulting a public official”, by carrying a sign caricaturing the state’s Minister-President Markus Söder.
After unsuccessfully appealing her sentence at Schweinfurt Regional Court, she must now pay an €800 fine.
The event took place in September 2023, when the woman carried a sign for about 15 minutes on the side lines of a demonstration against COVID-19 lockdown policies.
The poster, created by her partner, showed Söder alongside the phrase “Stoppt SöDDR,” referencing the former government of East Germany.
The poster included a picture of a raised middle finger.
Prosecutors initially sought a €2,500 fine under Section 188 of the German Criminal Code, which criminalises insults against public officials.
The district court reduced the penalty to €800, but the woman appealed.
Schweinfurt Regional Court then confirmed the conviction, ruling that the caricature was a “formal insult” and therefore not protected by freedom of expression or artistic freedom.
The woman’s defence argued the image was political criticism, not a personal attack.
The woman’s partner, who grew up in the former East Germany and created the caricature, said the “DDR” reference was meant as a warning against government overreach during the pandemic.
Söder himself did not file a complaint and declined to pursue the case.
The woman had also tried to have the Minister-President called as a witness to determine whether his work had actually been affected by the sign, but the Schweinfurt District Court rejected the request.
The appeals court’s decision, holding that provocative political imagery can still be classified as illegal insult, has raised concerns among free speech advocates about the limits of satire and critical expression toward public officials in Germany.
