The 18-year-old accused carried a poster with the inscription: “MERZ LECK EIER” during the demonstration on Thursday afternoon. The police confiscated the poster and initiated an investigation on initial suspicion of “slander and slander against political figures,” as a police spokesman said.

Heilbronn police also recently investigated

The newspaper “Junge Welt” reported and also showed a photo of the man with the poster on the X channel on the Internet.

According to the Criminal Code, libel occurs when someone “claims or spreads a fact about another that is likely to make that person contemptuous or to denigrate them in public opinion.” Defamation occurs when someone “against his better judgment asserts or spreads an untrue fact in relation to another” which can make him contemptuous or disparage him in public opinion.

Recently, after Merz’s visit, the police in Heilbronn investigated several people for possible insults under a Facebook post. It was about names like “Pinocchio” or “Lackaffe” that users posted under a police post about Merz’s visit. The police are obliged to do this, said a spokesman. “If we have an initial suspicion of a crime, then we have to pursue it further.”