Ariane Friedrich, German High Jumper, Outs Stalker On Facebook

A German high jumper outed a stalker on Facebook after receiving a lewd email

German high jumper Ariane Friedrich says she's no stranger to unwanted attention from stalkers. Now the athlete has taken matters into her own hands by publicly revealing the identity of the latest person to harass her.

According to Agence France-Presse, the 28-year-old posted the man's name, hometown and address on her Facebook wall after he allegedly emailed Friedrich an image of his genitals.

"It's time to act; it's time to defend myself. And that's what I'm doing. No more and no less," Friedrich wrote on Facebook.

Fans later took to the athlete's Facebook page both praising and criticizing her for the controversial move.

MSNBC explains the an online debate was fueled by Germany's strict online data protection laws which could have legal implications for Friedrich's actions.

Friedrich, who is also a German police officer, also filed formal charges against the man.

With the London 2012 Olympics just around the corner, Friedrich's coaches tried to downplay the incident, according to Der Spiegel.

"The issue has nothing to do with the public," coach Gunter Eisinger told the magazine.

Also on HuffPost:

Comments

[Stand up and Fight]

07:52 PM on 04/26/2012

It is awesome that Ariane fought back and ironic that she used his own desire for attention to punish him.The punishment truly fits the crime. Take note gentlemen. Do Not Mess with that Lady!

[avaLondon]

03:43 PM on 04/26/2012

I detest internet creeps, good for her
shame she might get in trouble for it but perverts need to understand that they can't harass people without consequences

[Arthur Friend]

03:23 PM on 04/26/2012

5. To make things worse, the information published by Ms. Friedrich is ambigious. For US citizens: Imagine a name of "John Smith, Washington". Which Washington? D.C.? Georgia? Another one? There are at least 2, maybe even 3 Thorsten D. in different towns called A. (As you can see, I'm not writing the full address for a reason)

6. So now we have one suspect and at least one innocent person, who faces an enraged mob. Ms. Friedrichs allows those people not just to publish detailled info on who they believe to be "the right one" (incl. street name and telephone number), but also to post severe threats of violence (ranging from "castration" to "cut it off" and "hang him by his b*lls").

7. You might say these consequences were unforeseeable, but a few weeks ago there was a similar case in Emden: An 11-year old girl was murdered, police arrested a 17-year old boy, his neighbour puts his full name and address on Facebook and some hours later a 50+ mob rioted at the police station, demanding the teen be handed over. Turns out: The boy was innocent. Cleared of all charges, he had to flee his home town and must live under police protection since. With his name published all over the internet, he has no chance to lead a normal life now.

Nevertheless Ms. Friedrich decided to go down the same road. IMHO, she's a cop trying to be judge, jury and executioner.

[sheppard1]

06:18 PM on 08/09/2012

only a 'man' would get only this.....

[cdgforce]

10:47 PM on 04/25/2012

Damned if you do damned if you don't. I'd rather be alive in jail then dead over a principal.

[MelissaTBfan]

09:46 PM on 04/25/2012

good for her!

[Zloki]

04:33 PM on 04/25/2012

I don't see anything wrong with what she did: what law is broken?

- People's addresses are in the phone book, there's no law against posting someone's address or their name.

- Likewise, if someone sends you a picture of their genitals without restriction, there's no law against distributing it (though if you made money on it, they may be entitled some royalties)

- Finally, she said he was stalking her. If he's stalking her, that's a factual comment and protected. If he wasn't, it might be libel but that doesn't seem to be the case here.

So for the haters in the bunch, what was illegal here? I can post anyone's address that I want on my Facebook. Why can't she? Because the guy will be embarrassed? Tough. He should have thought of that before sending a dick-pic instead of soliciting donations for UNICEF. Because if she posted his name, address, and his request for UNICEF donations, I assure you that there would be no controversy.

[Geistlos333]

07:54 AM on 04/26/2012

I totally support what she did but what's legal in the US isn't necesary legal elsewhere. That being said - good on her!

[marysheepdog70]

01:48 PM on 04/25/2012

As long as she can prove what she is posting, then I have no problem with what she did...maybe now he will leave her alone.

[VtPoet]

08:26 AM on 04/25/2012

I wonder how many opposing her are men, and how many supporting her are women?

[popgirl23]

10:00 AM on 04/26/2012

why?

[VtPoet]

06:37 PM on 04/26/2012

Really? You really don't know? Wow.

[sheppard1]

06:19 PM on 08/09/2012

took he words right out of my mouth...... look up a few posts and you'll see an 'example'....

[dkelban]

07:19 AM on 04/25/2012

Good for her!!!

[Shasha HodnettDee Harris]

11:24 PM on 04/24/2012

LOL!! You go girl!! Stop him before he tries something more!! Now the world knows!! Putting it out in the open stops a lot of the pervs!! Good for Ariane!!

[LeeRose]

11:45 PM on 04/24/2012

It's disturbing that you are angry at the victim instead of the stalker.

[CASnyder]

01:29 AM on 04/25/2012

Or she was just evening out the tables. Obviously he had a lot of her contact info that he shouldn't have had access to. If he gave her his contact info, she could share it with the public if she wanted to. I don't think vigilantism is the likely result, more likely shunning, but that will keep him from harming other women he might otherwise have access to, with them unwitting to his predelictions for stalking. Now if she'd abused her athletic skills or her position as a police officer to somehow punish him, that would be cause for banning her from the Olympics or from her job. She just refused to be a silent victim anymore.

[Zloki]

04:34 PM on 04/25/2012

"abused her athletic skills"

What's she going to do? Jump him? ;)

[egs1217]

06:20 PM on 04/24/2012

how could anyone criticize her? HE used email as his method of stalking --ergo he left himself open to be 'outed'. She merely exposed his name in public--as he exposed his genitals on the internet. I think that's eminently fair, regardless of what the German Courts think

[Modern and Proud]

07:37 PM on 04/24/2012

Fair, but illegal. They both broke the law. She's a police officer - she should have known better.

[hanspij]

08:39 PM on 04/24/2012

To bake some egs its wise to break some.

[egs1217]

09:16 PM on 04/24/2012

@Modern and Proud --precisely why HER word --as a police officer and important athlete in her country, might now actually get the laws changed --as they are everywhere else. Stalking IS a crime in the rest of the civilized world or aren't you aware of this? Why not Germany? She's rightly (and finally) fed up. If by taking this stand she brings needed attention to it--good for her. This is how we change laws. According to YOU,she's supposed to just 'accept' whatever any pig decides to do to her like a good little girl? Ha! I don't think so!

[quienwho]

06:18 PM on 04/24/2012

Good for her! Cannot imagine what it's like being in the public eye in this day and age. I've had very frightening harassers in my extemely private life and it is not possible to find words to describe how unsettling it is. Police can do little to nothing.
She ought not suffer any legal repurcussions. If she does, I'll be angry. Proud of her. Creeps deserve public shame...he is solely to blame if his reputation is harmed. Ms. Friedrich is the only victim here.

[Maria2]

05:40 PM on 04/24/2012

you GO, GIRL!

[Martin Pagels]

05:21 PM on 04/24/2012

The guy is a idiot. I saw it today in TV. I appreciate when women defend themselves and stupid men make fools of themselves

[egs1217]

01:24 AM on 04/25/2012

Thank you, Martin! I'm SO tired of other males excusing his behaviour and further victimizing her by claiming she's doing something wrong by defending herself. When the law cannot or will not protect you, you have every right to speak up in your own defense --and that's what this girl did. How anyone could find fault with her right to do so boggles the mind. One excuser here is trying to compare her speaking out to a man gunning down an unarmed teenager. So pathetic. Thank you for being a man who 'gets it'.