It is the latest judgment in a legal dispute between Axel Springer AG and Jörg Kachelmann, which has been employing the courts since 2014: The European Court of Human Rights has rejected a complaint by Springer-Verlag as inadmissible. In this case, it is about a photo that was printed in July 2010 in the "Bild" newspaper.
The shot showed Tachelmann in the prison with a naked torso. German courts had already forbidden the "Bild" to publish the photo again. In addition, Springer Kachelmann had to reimburse part of the legal costs. According to a spokeswoman for the Strasbourg court, it was a sum in the three-digit euro range.
The media company sees its right to freedom of expression violated. The judges contradicted that: The German courts had correctly weighed the right to freedom of expression against Kachelmann's right to privacy. Although the photo is not degrading in itself, but tile man in prison could not expect to be photographed. The penalty was also low.
Kachelmann was acquitted in 2011 of the charge of rape. Because of the coverage of the trial, Springer was convicted in other cases of compensation payments to Kachelmann. Most recently, the Higher Regional Court of Cologne had rejected a complaint by Springer at the end of September 2018. The group had to pay Kachelmann a total of 530,000 euros.
Nevertheless, Springer does not give up in the dispute. Opposite to the German press agency a spokesman said that they had filed a constitutional complaint that has not yet been decided.
Editor's note: Jörg Kachelmann regularly works for SPIEGEL Verlag.