MDR must broadcast Die Partei’s “execution” election advertisement

Higher Administrative Court Bautzen
Clearly satire: MDR must broadcast Die Partei’s “execution campaign ad”

MDR must broadcast party spot

Die-Party leader Martin Sonneborn with armband and success against the MDR

© Imago Images

An election advert in which a married couple shoots at alleged AfD voters is satire and must be broadcast. The MDR had rejected this – wrongly, as a court ruled.

The Saxon Higher Administrative Court in Bautzen has ordered the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR) to broadcast an advertisement by the satirical party Die Partei for the election campaign for the Saxon state elections on the radio. The Higher Administrative Court rejected an appeal by the MDR. The shooting of alleged AfD voters, which was the subject of the advertisement, was clearly satire, it said.

“This time we shoot first”

In the According to the courts, the election advertisement depicts a married couple listening to the – fictitious – swearing-in of the new Saxon government on the radio. In a strong dialect, the man states that the “fascists are back in power”. “This time we’ll shoot first,” he says and starts shooting at various people. The ad ends with a request to vote for the satirical party before it’s “too late”.

In principle, political parties have the right to have their election advertisements broadcast within the scope of the broadcasting time and slots allocated to them. However, broadcasters may reject specific advertisements if they clearly and seriously violate criminal law.

Dialogue satirically exaggerated

The MDR saw this as a given here. Violence was trivialized in the ad, argued the broadcaster. But neither the administrative court nor the higher administrative court saw such an obvious violation. The dialogue between the married couple in the election ad was satirically exaggerated, declared the higher administrative court.

This is particularly evident in the couple’s clear overreaction to the news of the swearing-in of the new government, the insults expressed and the exaggerated dialect of the speakers. In addition, the wife’s voice is unnaturally disguised. For an unbiased listener, the satirical character is obvious, and this is confirmed by the resolution in the sober, factual final sentence.

MDR cannot challenge decision

The decision from Bautzen is final. In Saxony, a new state parliament will be elected at the same time as Thuringia on September 1st.

nik
AFP

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