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Court Stops Schröder-Themed Murder Novel

June 23, 2004
https://p.dw.com/p/5Dkz

A Hamburg court this week granted Chancellor Gerhard Schröder an order halting the publication of a crime novel in which a German chancellor is shot in Schröder's home city of Hanover. Court spokeswoman Sabine Westphalen said the book called "The End of the Chancellor - The Final Shot" could not be published as long as it portrayed the murder plans and the assassination of the chancellor. The court ruled that the book's contents constituted "a serious breach of his (Schröder's) personal rights" and could not be justified by the right to freedom of artistic expression. It also said that the assassination plans presented in the book could heighten the already existing security risk to Schröder. The book's publishers have said they will obey the court ruling. The book tells the story of a ruined chemist, who shoots the chancellor outside a railway station because he blames politicians for his bankruptcy.