Court Stops Publication of Right-Wing EU Poster

A court in Hamburg awarded Chancellor Gerhard Schröder a temporary injunction against a poster produced by the right-wing Nationalist Party of Germany. The party had planed to placard the country with the poster showing Schröder's face and the statement "Don't let him make an ass out of you" in the run-up to the EU elections on June 13. According to the chancellor's lawyer, Michael Nesselhauf, the court ruled that the poster and the accompanying television ad represented a gross violation of Schröder's personal rights. If the NPD shows the poser again, it can face up to €20,000 in fines. NPD party leader Udo Voigt called the court ruling a "completely arbitrary act" and pledged to appeal it.