Posted on 04/12/2002 5:37:36 PM PDT by Shermy
HAMBURG, Germany - Lawyers for German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder went to court on Friday to deny that he dyes his dark-brown hair and to try to stop a news agency from repeating such suggestions.
The DDP news agency had quoted an image consultant as saying the 58-year-old chancellor would be more believable if he did not cover up his greying temples, prompting Schroeder's lawyer to issue an angry denial and demand a retraction.
After a 10-minute hearing on Friday, the Hamburg regional court said it would probably make a ruling on May 17.
"We have decided to go to court because this is an election year and it could get unpleasant if this allegation is spread over and over again," said Michael Nesselhauf, Schroeder's lawyer.
"It was spread in countless articles and on radio and TV in connection with the question of whether he dyes his hair," he told journalists outside the courtroom. "We have decided to end that question."
The lawyer representing the news agency, Klaus Sedelmaier, said issues of press freedom were at stake. He said the agency had done nothing wrong in publishing a quote by a third party and said it would take the matter to a higher court if it lost the case in Hamburg.
"The press should only be prosecuted if an allegation was made with evil intent," he later told journalists outside the court. "But if a mistake was made -- and human errors do happen -- and they later admit to the mistake then that is good enough."
Udo Walz, Schroeder's barber, made a sworn statement to the court that Schroeder does not dye his hair. He added Schroeder has some grey hairs that cannot be seen from a distance.
"If our biggest problem in Germany is whether our chancellor dyes his hair, then things seem to be going well for us here," said Walz, who charges the chancellor 30 euros ($25) for his haircuts. "If you had the opportunity to get as close to his head as me, then you would see that he too has grey hairs."
Schroeder, lagging in the polls and facing a general election in September, hopes the court in Hamburg will order the agency to pay a hefty fine if it repeats the allegations.
OPPOSITION QUESTION CREDIBILITY
The conservative opposition have jumped on the affair to cast doubt on Schroeder's credibility.
"A chancellor who dyes his hair will also dress up statistics," Karl-Josef Laumann, a member of parliament for the Christian Democrats (CDU), said earlier this year.
Peter Hahne, a political commentator at ZDF television, said that by bringing the court case Schroeder was opening himself up to ridicule in the election campaign.
"I would have expected a bit more self-confidence from him. Schroeder himself is the one who has the most to lose in all this," Hahne told Hit Radio FFH, which dyed the hair of the programme's presenter live on air on Friday.
Schroeder would not be the first European leader to have his hair colour questioned.
Asked by a reporter whether he had dyed his hair during campaigning for last year's Polish general election, silver-haired Prime Minister Leszek Miller replied: "Take a look and decide for yourself."
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Also:
Schroeder's hair suit tests media freedom in Germany
Yes indeed, Puff Schroeder is on wife number five because wives Nos. 1-4 got tired of sleeping with a guy who dyed his hair and, moreover, was hung like a stud gerbil. Underneath it all, 98% of these heavy lefties are bone smokers and narcissists. That is to say, is "wife number 5" by any chance named Scott, Bruce, or Jason?
Serves him right!
BERLIN, Germany -- Political rivals have challenged German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder to have his hair scientifically tested to prove it is not dyed.
Schroeder's lawyers went to court on Friday in a bid to quash suggestion he manipulates the colour of his dark brown mane.
The issue is threatening to overshadow campaigning for forthcoming elections and on Saturday Cornelia Pieper, campaign manager for the Free Democrats (FDP), and Hildegard Mueller, a leading conservative Christian Democrat (CDU), said Schroeder should now submit to a hair analysis to resolve finally the dispute about greying temples.
Schroeder resorted to legal action after DDP, a German news agency, claimed his hair was dyed.
Tabloid newspapers have had a field day and his barber has become a national celebrity, backing up the chancellor's insistence his hair is all natural.
"The chancellor must submit to a hair test," Pieper told Bild newspaper. "Only then will he be able to get back to concentrating on his work."
"Schroeder should take a hair test," Mueller, leader of the CDU's youth wing, told the Berlin tabloid B.Z.
Siegfried Helias, another CDU member of parliament and a trained barber, said there was only one way to find out if the colour was manipulated.
He told Bild: "He should take a hair test to create clarity here."
Schroeder's spokesman Bela Anda said: "It's a private matter of the chancellor's."
Udo Walz, Schroeder's barber, has made a sworn statement to the court that Schroeder does not dye his hair.
He added Schroeder that had some grey hairs that cannot be seen from a distance.
"If you had the opportunity to get as close to his head as me, then you would see that he too has grey hairs," Walz told Reuters television.
He added: "If our biggest problem in Germany is whether our chancellor dyes his hair, then things seem to be going well for us here."
Peter Hahne, a political commentator at German ZDF television, said Schroeder was opening himself up to ridicule in the election campaign with the court case.
"I would have expected a bit more self-confidence from him. Schroeder himself is the one who has the most to lose in all this," he told Germany's Hit Radio FFH, which dyed the hair of the program's host live on air on Friday.
Schroeder is not be the first European leader to have his hair colour questioned.
Asked by a reporter whether he had dyed his hair during campaigning for last year's Polish general election, silver-haired Prime Minister Leszek Miller, replied: "Take a look and decide for yourself.
"I would of course like to have darker hair but my wife says that this colour makes me more charming, and that is the most important advice," said Miller, a 55-year-old grandfather.
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