“Who wrote to me?” asks FOCUS columnist Jan Fleischhauer in the video podcast “The Black Channel” and picks up a letter. According to Fleischhauer, it comes from a police chief. In fact, criminal proceedings are underway against the FOCUS columnist.

The Munich public prosecutor’s office is investigating the spread of banned slogans under Section 86a of the Criminal Code. Background: Fleischhauer had spoken on the “black channel” about re-founding the AfD youth organization. As part of the podcast, he is said to have used a “forbidden slogan”.

Fleischhauers sought legal advice. According to the columnist, the lawyer said that talking about the proceedings in the podcast could be a repeat act. “It’s a total taboo,” he says.

Fleischhauer trusts in the rule of law

“If you think about it further, then you’ll soon have one foot in prison if you say that the most successful book of the 1930s was Hitler’s ‘Mein Kampf’.” Fleischhauer still believes in the rule of law, he emphasizes. “And there are still people who are looking at the case with a clear mind.”

In the podcast with Carolin Blüchel he also talks about the role of reporting offices and so-called “trusted flaggers”. It is also about the legal limits for journalists when quoting historical slogans and symbols.