An overtly anti-black leaflet circulated by the neo-Nazi supporters of a far-right German party does not breach German sedition laws, a court said Friday. Ghanaian-born Gerald Asamoah, a star of the German national football team and member of the Schalke squad, had complained to police about the rightists' ugly riposte to a "We're All Germany" publicity campaign during the 2006 World Cup. The leaflet, to be used as a poster, showed his photo and the words, "No, Gerald, you're not Germany." Leaders of the extreme National Democratic Party (NPD) are set to go on trial soon for racism in connection with similar leaflets. An appeal court in Neuruppin near Berlin Friday acquitted three men who had handed out the leaflet. Judges ruled the message was not sedition, as it did not inspire hatred of a group specifically, but was a general attack against multiculturalism in Germany. A lower court had convicted the men. A separate sedition conviction of the trio, aged 25 to 41, for a "nasty" anti-Semitic leaflet stood. Two received suspended, eight- month jail terms and the third a fine. The three had formerly been members of a neo-Nazi group which was prohibited by law.
