From the article translated by DeepL
SPIEGEL was to be banned from reporting on Cristiano Ronaldo's dubious tax avoidance strategies. On Tuesday, the two-year litigation ended - in favor of the magazine. DER SPIEGEL Wednesday, 03.04.2019 06:50 o'clock
At the end of February 2017, the Hamburg Regional Court had issued a ban in preliminary injunction proceedings, which not only seemed unjust, but even absurd. Under the presidency of Judge Simone Käfer, the press chamber had decided that SPIEGEL had to immediately delete its title stories about Cristiano Ronaldos, José Mourinhos and Mesut Özil's windy tax avoidance manoeuvres from its online archives and was not allowed to disseminate them in any other way. In the event of violation, SPIEGEL was threatened with a fine of up to 250,000 euros, according to the law.
The contributions were an important part of the football leaks reporting in December 2016, which SPIEGEL published together with more than 60 journalists from the research network European Investigative Collaborations (EIC) for more than seven months. They also covered companies of the three football stars.
The football stars in Hamburg had not filed their own complaints against the SPIEGEL reporting. Instead, the Spanish law firm Senn Ferrero went to court against SPIEGEL. In the previous years, the lawyers had been mandated by many top footballers in Spain. Ronaldo, Özil and Mourinho were also clients of the firm.
Judgment read in parts like a statement of account
In Germany, Senn Ferrero engaged the Berlin press attorneys of the law firm Schertz Bergmann. The lawyers are known for their loud and aggressive action against media reports. Schertz Bergmann also personally represented Mesut Özil and took action against SPIEGEL reporting. In this lawsuit, the lawyers in Berlin already suffered a defeat in the spring of 2017. The verdict read in parts like a reckoning with the lax tax morale of the football idol Mesut Özil.
From then on, Schertz Bergmann continued to fight on behalf of Senn Ferrero at the Hamburg Regional Court with a great deal of determination. Hamburg is a popular place of jurisdiction for plaintiffs who want to take action against unpleasant reporting. Beside Cologne and Berlin there most frequently prohibitions against press reports are obtained.
In the Senn Ferrero versus SPIEGEL case, Judge Simone Käfer's chamber issued a ban on SPIEGEL without even giving the court the opportunity to comment on the allegations. Although this violates the defendant's fundamental procedural rights, it was until recently standard practice in urgent press proceedings in Hamburg.
The Spanish plaintiffs basically did not even dispute the truth of SPIEGEL's reporting. The lawyers from Madrid - including Julio Senn, the former Secretary General of Real Madrid - demanded that the reporting be ceased immediately. They stated that their firm had previously been hacked. The core of the cover story, the plaintiffs argued, was based on their documents. The publication of suspected hacked documents from a law firm violates the lawyer-client confidentiality.
Protected by press law
The source of the SPIEGEL, Rui Pinto, who at that time was anonymized under the alias John, denies that he was a hacker or would cooperate with hackers. SPIEGEL explained that he had published the stories because they were true, the public interest in the topics was very high and therefore it was irrelevant for journalists whether a law firm had been hacked or not. SPIEGEL's legal position on this is clear: as long as the media do not hack themselves or ask someone to hack, their reporting is protected by press law - especially if the stories reveal illegal or morally offensive behaviour.
Product reviews are purely editorial and independent. Via the so-called affiliate links above, we usually receive a commission from the merchant when we buy. More information here.
The Press Chamber of the Hamburg Regional Court upheld its ban, although at no time was there any final proof that the information and documents used for SPIEGEL's contributions originated from a hack by the firm. SPIEGEL appealed against the ruling and moved on to the Hamburg Higher Regional Court in autumn 2017. Andreas Buske is sitting there; he was the predecessor of Judge Käfer at the Regional Court. Weeks and months passed, in the end more than a year.
The SPIEGEL articles remained banned. Although the tax office of Mesut Özil demanded a fine of 790,000 euros and a subsequent payment of two million euros for his tax dribblings. Although the offices of a foundation were searched by start coach José Mourinho in the course of reporting, the public prosecutor's office investigated him and the Portuguese was subsequently sentenced to a suspended sentence of one year. It became increasingly clear that SPIEGEL's reporting had revealed a real system of tax fraud in professional football. Cristiano Ronaldo was indicted in Spain on suspicion of tax evasion and sentenced to two years' imprisonment, suspended as a first offender. Ronaldo also paid around 20 million euros to the Spanish tax authorities.
Schertz Bergmann withdrew application for cease and desist order
SPIEGEL, which had triggered Ronaldo's conviction through its reporting, was still not allowed to show the source text to its readers.
It took more than two years in the "summary proceedings", the SPIEGEL wrote hundreds of pages in defense of its reporting, until Judge Buske declared on Tuesday in the Higher Regional Court at the beginning of the trial that he would "under reservation follow the defendant's request". So it looked good for investigative journalism and SPIEGEL.
Sebastian Gorski, the representative of the law firm Schertz Bergmann, stated at the end of the trial that the court would probably decide against him and his clients. He then withdrew the application for an injunction before he was able to collect this defeat. Still a complaint of the Kanzlei Senn Ferrero for omission of the reporting is pending in Hamburg - after the ?express procedure? now in the main thing.
But after more than two years of silence, which was banned, SPIEGEL is now able for the first time to present to its readers the articles that have revealed one of the most extensive tax scandals in the history of football.
The following works are now freely accessible again:
Storytelling about the financial conduct of José Mourinho from November 2016 Football Leaks to José Mourinho: The Million Game Football Leaks to José Mourinho The Million Game
"A Pathetic Picture" on December 3, 2016.
For a year and a half, the Spanish financial authorities drove the German national player Mesut Özil ahead of them. Then they thundered him into paying millions. Football Leaks on Özil's tax tricks: Football Leaks on Özil's tax tricks "This looks really bad".
"The Can of Ronaldo, December 3, 2016.
Their toughest opponent was the tax office: superstar Cristiano Ronaldo and coach legend José Mourinho used letterbox companies in the Caribbean for their advertising millions. Typical in the greed business football. Football Leaks: The Can of Ronaldo Football Leaks The Can of Ronaldo
In the course of the day, SPIEGEL ONLINE will also unlock the SPIEGEL TV report from December 4, 2016: "Football Leaks - Documents of Greed" about the explosive material that the unveiling platform "Football Leaks" left to SPIEGEL. How contracts and secret papers reveal the dubious tax tricks of industry stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Mesut Özil and José Mourinho. SPIEGEL TV about advertising millions and a mailbox company in the Caribbean.
SPIEGEL was to be banned from reporting on Cristiano Ronaldo's dubious tax avoidance strategies. On Tuesday, the two-year litigation ended - in favor of the magazine. DER SPIEGEL Wednesday, 03.04.2019 06:50 o'clock
At the end of February 2017, the Hamburg Regional Court had issued a ban in preliminary injunction proceedings, which not only seemed unjust, but even absurd. Under the presidency of Judge Simone Käfer, the press chamber had decided that SPIEGEL had to immediately delete its title stories about Cristiano Ronaldos, José Mourinhos and Mesut Özil's windy tax avoidance manoeuvres from its online archives and was not allowed to disseminate them in any other way. In the event of violation, SPIEGEL was threatened with a fine of up to 250,000 euros, according to the law.
The contributions were an important part of the football leaks reporting in December 2016, which SPIEGEL published together with more than 60 journalists from the research network European Investigative Collaborations (EIC) for more than seven months. They also covered companies of the three football stars.
The football stars in Hamburg had not filed their own complaints against the SPIEGEL reporting. Instead, the Spanish law firm Senn Ferrero went to court against SPIEGEL. In the previous years, the lawyers had been mandated by many top footballers in Spain. Ronaldo, Özil and Mourinho were also clients of the firm.
Judgment read in parts like a statement of account
In Germany, Senn Ferrero engaged the Berlin press attorneys of the law firm Schertz Bergmann. The lawyers are known for their loud and aggressive action against media reports. Schertz Bergmann also personally represented Mesut Özil and took action against SPIEGEL reporting. In this lawsuit, the lawyers in Berlin already suffered a defeat in the spring of 2017. The verdict read in parts like a reckoning with the lax tax morale of the football idol Mesut Özil.
From then on, Schertz Bergmann continued to fight on behalf of Senn Ferrero at the Hamburg Regional Court with a great deal of determination. Hamburg is a popular place of jurisdiction for plaintiffs who want to take action against unpleasant reporting. Beside Cologne and Berlin there most frequently prohibitions against press reports are obtained.
In the Senn Ferrero versus SPIEGEL case, Judge Simone Käfer's chamber issued a ban on SPIEGEL without even giving the court the opportunity to comment on the allegations. Although this violates the defendant's fundamental procedural rights, it was until recently standard practice in urgent press proceedings in Hamburg.
The Spanish plaintiffs basically did not even dispute the truth of SPIEGEL's reporting. The lawyers from Madrid - including Julio Senn, the former Secretary General of Real Madrid - demanded that the reporting be ceased immediately. They stated that their firm had previously been hacked. The core of the cover story, the plaintiffs argued, was based on their documents. The publication of suspected hacked documents from a law firm violates the lawyer-client confidentiality.
Protected by press law
The source of the SPIEGEL, Rui Pinto, who at that time was anonymized under the alias John, denies that he was a hacker or would cooperate with hackers. SPIEGEL explained that he had published the stories because they were true, the public interest in the topics was very high and therefore it was irrelevant for journalists whether a law firm had been hacked or not. SPIEGEL's legal position on this is clear: as long as the media do not hack themselves or ask someone to hack, their reporting is protected by press law - especially if the stories reveal illegal or morally offensive behaviour.
Product reviews are purely editorial and independent. Via the so-called affiliate links above, we usually receive a commission from the merchant when we buy. More information here.
The Press Chamber of the Hamburg Regional Court upheld its ban, although at no time was there any final proof that the information and documents used for SPIEGEL's contributions originated from a hack by the firm. SPIEGEL appealed against the ruling and moved on to the Hamburg Higher Regional Court in autumn 2017. Andreas Buske is sitting there; he was the predecessor of Judge Käfer at the Regional Court. Weeks and months passed, in the end more than a year.
The SPIEGEL articles remained banned. Although the tax office of Mesut Özil demanded a fine of 790,000 euros and a subsequent payment of two million euros for his tax dribblings. Although the offices of a foundation were searched by start coach José Mourinho in the course of reporting, the public prosecutor's office investigated him and the Portuguese was subsequently sentenced to a suspended sentence of one year. It became increasingly clear that SPIEGEL's reporting had revealed a real system of tax fraud in professional football. Cristiano Ronaldo was indicted in Spain on suspicion of tax evasion and sentenced to two years' imprisonment, suspended as a first offender. Ronaldo also paid around 20 million euros to the Spanish tax authorities.
Schertz Bergmann withdrew application for cease and desist order
SPIEGEL, which had triggered Ronaldo's conviction through its reporting, was still not allowed to show the source text to its readers.
It took more than two years in the "summary proceedings", the SPIEGEL wrote hundreds of pages in defense of its reporting, until Judge Buske declared on Tuesday in the Higher Regional Court at the beginning of the trial that he would "under reservation follow the defendant's request". So it looked good for investigative journalism and SPIEGEL.
Sebastian Gorski, the representative of the law firm Schertz Bergmann, stated at the end of the trial that the court would probably decide against him and his clients. He then withdrew the application for an injunction before he was able to collect this defeat. Still a complaint of the Kanzlei Senn Ferrero for omission of the reporting is pending in Hamburg - after the ?express procedure? now in the main thing.
But after more than two years of silence, which was banned, SPIEGEL is now able for the first time to present to its readers the articles that have revealed one of the most extensive tax scandals in the history of football.
The following works are now freely accessible again:
Storytelling about the financial conduct of José Mourinho from November 2016 Football Leaks to José Mourinho: The Million Game Football Leaks to José Mourinho The Million Game
"A Pathetic Picture" on December 3, 2016.
For a year and a half, the Spanish financial authorities drove the German national player Mesut Özil ahead of them. Then they thundered him into paying millions. Football Leaks on Özil's tax tricks: Football Leaks on Özil's tax tricks "This looks really bad".
"The Can of Ronaldo, December 3, 2016.
Their toughest opponent was the tax office: superstar Cristiano Ronaldo and coach legend José Mourinho used letterbox companies in the Caribbean for their advertising millions. Typical in the greed business football. Football Leaks: The Can of Ronaldo Football Leaks The Can of Ronaldo
In the course of the day, SPIEGEL ONLINE will also unlock the SPIEGEL TV report from December 4, 2016: "Football Leaks - Documents of Greed" about the explosive material that the unveiling platform "Football Leaks" left to SPIEGEL. How contracts and secret papers reveal the dubious tax tricks of industry stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Mesut Özil and José Mourinho. SPIEGEL TV about advertising millions and a mailbox company in the Caribbean.
