Political debate does not justify making false factual claims. The Thuringian Higher Administrative Court has dismissed a complaint on this matter lodged by AfD district administrator Robert Sesselmann by way of a ruling (Ref. 3 EO 34/26 of 5 August 2026).

As the CDU’s Secretary-General at the time, Dr Carsten Linnemann spoke at a press conference in October 2025 about the Sonneberg District Administrator’s term in office to date. He had pointed out that, contrary to the AfD’s policy objectives, a school that had been in existence for 120 years had been closed in the district. Sesselmann subsequently stated in various media outlets that Linnemann’s claim that he had closed the school was false. Linnemann then applied to the Meiningen Administrative Court to have Sesselmann prohibited from making this statement. The court granted the application.

The Thuringian Higher Administrative Court confirmed that Linnemann had not claimed that Sesselmann had personally ordered the closure. By accusing Linnemann of attributing the closure to him, Sesselmann had not merely expressed a political opinion, but had himself made an inaccurate factual claim. The court ruled that he was not permitted to repeat this. This is because, at the press conference, Linnemann had merely mentioned the fact that the Thuringian Ministry of Education had ordered the school’s closure.