Overview

• Landgericht Rostock ruled that the Rostock Linke-Kreisverband must stop labeling AfD parliamentarians as “political and human assholes,” granting AfD a partial legal victory.
• The non-final judgment carries penalties of up to €250,000 or six months’ imprisonment for violations of the court order.
• AfD’s earlier defamation suits against Linke politician Dirk Bruhn and the Vorpommern-Rügen Kreisverband were dismissed by courts in Schwerin and Stralsund.
• Dirk Bruhn first accused AfD MPs Thore Stein and Enrico Schult of mocking his Parkinson’s symptoms during an April state parliament session.
• The cases underscore intensifying disputes over defamation, parliamentary privilege and the limits of political speech in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.