The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has upheld the right of a pro-life activist to distribute anti-abortion leaflets near an abortion clinic in Germany.

The European Centre for Law and Justice in Strasbourg has welcomed the decision as a victory for free speech.

The activist in question, Klaus Guenter Annen, took a case to the ECHR following a court order in 2007 that he desist from handing out pro-life leaflets near a clinic run by two doctors named on the document – one of whom sought the original court order. Mr Annen also named the two doctors on his website. Additionally, the leaflet claimed that “unlawful abortions” were being performed at the clinic, with the qualifier that, while abortion is permissible by law in Germany, “the murder of human beings in Auschwitz was unlawful, but the morally degraded NS [Nazi] State allowed the murder of innocent people and did not make it subject to criminal liability….The attestation of counselling protects the ‘doctor’ and the mother from criminal prosecution, but not from their responsibility before God.”

In its ruling in favour of Mr Annen, The ECHR found that German courts had not struck a fair balance between the man’s right to freedom of expression and the doctors’ rights. Additionally, the ECHR ruled that Annen’s leaflet was clear on the roots of the phrase “unlawful abortions” and that it did not explicitly equate abortion with the Holocaust.

The court concluded that Mr Annen’s campaign “undoubtedly contributed to a highly controversial debate of public interest” and his rights to freedom of expression had been violated. Mr Annen was awarded €13,696.97 in costs and expenses.