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https://caliber.az/en/post/german-law-targets-pensioner-for-satirical-post-about-chancellor
Police in Heilbronn, southwestern Germany, have opened an investigation against a pensioner who referred to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz as “Pinocchio” in a Facebook comment.

In October 2025, the man saw a post on the Heilbronn police’s Facebook page announcing that Merz, along with Baden-Württemberg’s state prime minister Winfried Kretschmann, would attend an upcoming event in the city. He commented: “Pinocchio is coming to HN [Heilbronn],” adding a long-nosed emoji, Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.

Three months later, in late January, he received a letter from the criminal police stating that investigations had been launched under Article 188 of the German Criminal Code. Introduced in April 2021, the law criminalizes insults or defamations of politicians “if the offence is likely to make their public work considerably more difficult,” with penalties of up to five years in prison.

A Heilbronn police spokesperson said that the comment was discovered during routine monitoring of social media: “When we come across cases of criminal activity during our monitoring of social media we will file a suit or submit it to the public prosecutor’s office for review.”