DR. SARAFI lawyers obtain further preliminary injunction against Enissa Amani before the Higher Regional Court of Hamburg

Higher Regional Court of Hamburg follows the legal opinion of Dr. SARAFI Rechtsanwälte

For one of our clients, the new year starts with another legal victory against comedian Enissa Amani. The Hanseatic Higher Regional Court (“Higher Regional Court of Hamburg”) has issued a preliminary injunction in full against Ms. Amani, thus not only reconfirming the legality of our client's claims, but also granting him further claims.

Background to the proceedings

After our client, a well-known journalist, objectively criticized Ms. Amani's controversial appearance on the ARD program “tough but fair”, Ms. Amani published several defamatory posts on Instagram in which she insulted our client and linked him to serious allegations, including the distribution of child pornography. She deliberately used insulting terms, paraphrased the swear word “son of a whore” and gave it to him. She also reviled him as a “disgusting, characterless, man-hating, undignified junkyman.”

Although Ms. Amani did not directly mention our client's name in her posts and claimed that her comments did not relate to anyone in particular, it was clear to the average audience that our client was meant. In doing so, Ms. Amani deliberately tried to deceive the court: At first, she claimed that our client had never been meant. However, following the first-instance decision, she openly acknowledged that he was the addressee of her contributions at all times.

We then took legal action against Ms. Amani. After she had refused to attempt an out-of-court settlement, we applied for a preliminary restraining order. By order of November 4, 2024, the Hamburg Regional Court found that our client was entitled to an injunctive relief under Sections 1004 Paragraph 1 S. 2 analogously, 823 Paragraph 1 BGB in conjunction with Art. 2 Paragraph 1 and Art. 1 Paragraph 1 GG.

We have about this in our post DR. SARAFI lawyers obtain preliminary injunction against Enissa Amani berichtet.

Ms. Amani's response

Ms. Amani responded with a remarkably unobjective and polemical campaign. She publicly showered our client with malice and ridicule and claimed that our client had “lost” even though he was able to enforce a restraining order against her. She also claims that our client was only able to assert himself with “two mini points” — out of the “hundreds of reposts.” In doing so, she suggested that our client had been successful in just two of countless applications.

She then published further contributions, repeated the statements already complained of and was visibly pleased that the Hamburg Regional Court classified the insults she had made as admissible criticism, which our client allegedly had to accept.

Her lawyer was also carried away by a questionable interpretation of the situation. In a public comment on Enissa Amani's Instagram posts, he intervened and explained that our client had “lost 5/8” and would claim “everywhere” that he had won the case even though he had “mostly lost.” This interpretation is refuted all the more remarkably by the recent decision.

The latest decision by the Higher Regional Court of Hamburg is not only another success for our client, but also obliges Enissa Amani to delete her Instagram posts.

First instance: Hamburg Regional Court

The Hamburg Regional Court partially acknowledged the violations of our client's personal rights and issued a preliminary injunction in parts: However, the court left two of the four appealed statements unappealed, as it considered them to be covered by freedom of expression, in particular citing an alleged “right of retaliation.”

Following the partial decision of the Hamburg Regional Court, Ms. Amani spread further defamatory content on Instagram. She ridiculed our client, claimed that he had succeeded “only in two mini-points,” and made distasteful statements about our work. At the same time, she referred to her lawyer as the “Champions League.” Interestingly enough, Ms. Amani then threatened our client with further legal action because he presented the decision of the Hamburg Regional Court as a success against her. Despite the big announcement, however, the announced warning failed to materialize.

Second instance: Hanseatic Higher Regional Court

We filed an immediate appeal against the decision of the Hamburg Regional Court, as we were convinced that Ms. Amani's further statements were neither considered admissible expressions of opinion nor covered by the so-called right of retaliation — and with success. The Higher Regional Court of Hamburg amended the decision of the Hamburg Regional Court on December 16, 2024 and issued the preliminary injunction in full.

The Higher Regional Court of Hamburg stated:

• The description of the swear word “son of a whore” and “You disgusting, characterless, man-hating, undignified junkyman” can be classified as seriously insulting. These statements serve only to disparage and are not covered by freedom of speech.
• The implicit allegation that our client was associated with child pornography was also considered unlawful. Removing the words “with children” from her post in green letters was insufficient, as the words remained easy to read.
• The court rejected the other party's argument that the statements were not related to a specific person as incorrect. The average reader could clearly see that the statements referred to our client. The court also clarified that there is no right of “retaliation.” As a result, all claims were classified as defamatory and insulting.

Ms Amani will bear the costs of the proceedings brought by both instances.

conclusion

Our client was able to fully defend himself against the defamatory attacks by Enissa Amani. The decision of the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court impressively shows that the protection of personal rights can also be consistently enforced in the digital space. DR. SARAFI Rechtsanwälte has already conducted numerous proceedings in which we were able to successfully prohibit the expression of opinion. This is not easy, as freedom of speech is highly valued in Germany. Yet no one has to accept being belittled or hurt in their honor.

We are at your disposal for further information or inquiries.

DR. SARAFI Rechtsanwälte
info@sarafi.de