“BSI affair”
Interim injunction: Jan Böhmermann wins in court against Julian Reichelt
In October 2022, Jan Böhmermann triggered the “BSI affair” with his show ZDF Magazin Royale
© Henning Kaiser/ / Picture Alliance
An episode of Jan Böhmermann’s “ZDF Magazin Royale” from October 2022 triggered the “BSI affair”. Former Bild boss Julian Reichelt and his news portal “Nius” took this as an opportunity to spread allegations about Böhmermann, the editorial team and the Interior Ministry.
Jan Böhmermann, through his production company Entertainment Television Ehrenfeld, has an injunction against the former Bild editor-in-chief before the Hamburg district court Julian Reichelt and the news portal “Nius”. The background to this is two articles by “Nius” and an episode of the YouTube format “Aehrung, Reichelt”, in which allegations were made against the Federal Ministry of the Interior, ZDF and Jan Böhmermann. The interim injunction is said to be available to the industry magazines “DWDL” and “Legal Tribune Online” as well as the “Spiegel”.
In October 2022, the “ZDF Magazine Royale” discussed the alleged proximity to Russia of the then head of the Federal Office for Security and Information Technology (BSI), Arne Schönbohm, in an episode. A few days after the broadcast, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser deposed him and relieved him of his duties. Schönbohm is now demanding 100,000 euros in compensation from ZDF.
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“Nius” and Julian Reichelt used the episode as an opportunity to write two articles and a video. In them they gave the impression that state secretaries or people close to the Federal Minister of the Interior had participated in the “ZDF Magazin Royale” episode, provided the editorial team with explosive information – or even arranged for the broadcast. The Hamburg Regional Court has now banned these and other statements.
Also the statement that a certain woman with connections to the Ministry of the Interior was part of the ZDF Magazin Royale editorial team. “This claim is undisputedly untrue,” the court said. According to the Hamburg regional court, the claim that the Federal Ministry of the Interior had influenced the content of that “ZDF Magazin Royale” episode was an “illegally aroused” suspicion. The court set the value of the case at 120,000 euros. Neither “Nius” and Reichelt nor their lawyer have yet commented on the verdict.