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Boris Streubel / Bongarts/Getty Images
Ariane Friedrich of Germany celebrates after winning the women's high jump during the IAAF World Challenge ISTAF 2010 at the Olympic Stadium on August 22, 2010 in Berlin, Germany.
MAINZ, Germany – Ariane Friedrich, a 28-year-old German high-jumper currently training for the 2012 London Games, is taking on more than one Olympic-size challenge: she is also publicly challenging an alleged stalker. The athlete from Frankfurt says that she recently received an email with a sexually explicit photo from a stalker.
In what some see as a controversial move, she chose to out the stalker on Facebook –- posting his full name, excerpts from the email he sent her and his hometown.
“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 her Facebook page on Saturday.
In Germany, where strict online data protection laws exist, Friedrich's decision to “name and shame” her alleged stalker is receiving broad attention and has triggered a heated debate about the moral and legal implications of the online allegations.
Fears of a Web mob
Friedrich, who is not just an athlete, but also a police officer, also filed a legal complaint against her offender, according to German media reports.
While the move has triggered lots of positive responses from her fans on her Facebook page, with posts calling her “courageous,” there was also growing criticism.
“As much as I can understand your anger about the stalker, you as a police officer should not just pillory somebody on the Internet,” one person wrote on Friedrich’s Facebook page.
Gero Breloer / AP
Germany's Ariane Friedrich reacts in the women's high jump final during the World Athletics Championships in Berlin in this August 2009 file photo.
“The reaction of Mrs. Friedrich is of course understandable, but she reacted too fast,” Dr. Thilo Weichert, a data privacy law expert in Kiel, Germany, told NBC News.
”It needs to be checked first, if the named person is really the correct one. Anybody can use a wrong name on Facebook,” Weichert said.
On Monday, many of the critical Facebook posts referenced a recent incident in which the equivalent of a lynch mob turned against a 17-year-old in the northern German city of Emden after police had arrested him for questioning in the murder of an 11-year-old girl.
The teen was later declared innocent and released, but the social media storm led to a gathering of an angry crowd in front of the police station. Afterward the boy and his family felt so harassed that they moved to an undisclosed location.
Don’t need the distraction
Friedrich’s coaches aren’t exactly welcoming the move. On Saturday, Guenter Eisinger, her coach and manager, tried to downplay the incident, saying he is concerned that the growing media attention will negatively affect her preparations for the Summer Games.
“The issue has nothing to do with the public,” Eisinger told German news agency dpa on Saturday. “We can do without any stress factors.”
Leave a Comment:
Is it me or does that one picture show a serious set of labial lips?
It's you...that's her *ss cheek.
Those are her balls
well, it seems like... I eventually turn on the news to see another little girl or woman killed by some maniac.
I like her style.... bring it...how did she know it was some prepubescent boy???? And Dr. Spock...too soon to react?...sorry too many times it is too late. Parents watch what your kids are doing.....other maniacs beware we are arming our daughters.....be careful....very careful.
“As much as I can understand your anger about the stalker, you as a police officer should not just pillory somebody on the Internet,” one person wrote on Friedrich’s Facebook page.
WHAT!!? WHAT KIND OF IDIOT WOULD SAY THIS?
In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel
(bible.cc)
Although I agree that what the alleged stalker did was horrifying, I am also seriously suprised and shocked at the victim's impulsive and irresponsible reaction, especially considering her staus as an olympic athlete and representative of the police force. Seems to me emotions ruled and logic was left WAY out of the equation- and that NEVER leads to anything good.
Did she stop to think of the crime wave she may have just initiated in this man's hometown? The innocent victims- i.e. his Mother, siblings, etc.- who may be harrassed or worse as a result of his personal information being publicized? If everyone on her facebook page reacts as emotionally as she has done there is much worse to come. I know that justice is not always served in this world but there are extremely good reasons why the law is in place to handle crime. NO ONE is above the law, and if this is allowed and accepted- look out! Many innocent people will suffer, and all because of a young woman who could have turned this into a great testimony of how to handle harrassment, and instead has proven to be immature and emotionally incapable of sound judgement under stress. Not so sure she should be a police officer....... that scares me a little.
anyone up for another SEAL rescue....oops, now that CUBA has communication equipment that this Marylander brought in they probably see this blog.....our government is soooooo smart.....
who in the world has big enough balls to stalk this vicious looking demon. he must have a death wish
It seems as if this woman is just as big of an idiot as the creepy stalker. It sounds like she illegally used her police job to obtain information about someone and she may have not gotten the right person. It also appears she may have broken some data privacy laws in posting his information and address in the hopes that someone would "pay him a visit and harm him". As creepy as this guy is...she should have let the courts deal with him. If he is harmed because of what she posted she may be culpable to that as well.
Woman or man?
it's better to out a stalker NOW, then be murdered later. which is what ALWAYS happens when stalkers get their way. stalkers are bullies. and bullies should just @!$%#ing die. or else they'll kill YOU.
why can a person stalk someone on fb and her not out him....i think he got what he deserved....if other people did this it would stop since they would be scared of being outed
Good for her! Bravo and if all the stalkers and haters could be exposed as long as there is solid proof then maybe some of this horrible bullying will stop. Unless you've been a victim of a stalker or bullied you can't possibly understand how it affects you and invades your life. You lose all trust. We need to come down hard on these people who use the internet to hurt and attack people.
yeah, and if he used a fake identity to stalk and harass the woman, he should be charged for this as well. all throughout europe, this sense of male coddling medieval stance of even very serious crimes exists. 'love thy murderer' in other words.
Wow...what if this is not the guy's real name and information?? I hope investigations have proven that this is the actual person. It could be embarrassing if she acted too quickly.
For the love of God, please put some pants on!
The story alleged she had a stalker. Was it an internet stalker or an everyday in you face follow you everywhere stalker?
I have a stalker. Or had a stalker, she hasn't stalked me today, but for years and years she has. Her name is Cher. Yes, actress singer Cher. She had me stalked and harassed for years. Years. She paid her people, her gang, her entourage to stalk me. Harass me and cause me all sorts of trouble for years and years. She has a lot of money. Millions of dollars. Millions. I have zip. Nada. A few bucks. In this place, in this time, money can do a lot of things. A lot. And to be a celebrity with money, well that makes them immune to just about anything short of outright murder and even that is sometimes not enough. Millions of dollars and celebrity, that's what my Gang Stalking Queen has. Millions of dollars and celebrity. Cher the Gang Stalking Queen.
Flashing101. Never, and I mean NEVER throw your junk at a dyke..
What a noob.
If Some do-do sends a picture of his package to someone he doesn't even know, he should have the cops called on him. He's a wierdo that should be arrested and fined.
Good for her! If he did send her those pictures of himself then he should have expected for her to post his info on FB.
Hmm...some variables I'm not privy to, and I suspect many here are not either. That having been said, was there a face to go along with the southern regions? If so, then he's dead in the water, as they say. If not, how would she know it was this particular person? That's not to say she doesn't have other incriminating evidence, but, wow, if she's wrong! I doubt she is wrong, by the way, and he dangled his bits in dangerous waters and got bit! You just can't make this stuff up!
Anyone being assaulted has the right, the duty, to rebut WITH PREJUDICE, fraulein. The dissenters to this
issue are the pigs who assault others. Their life is to assault others, they sustain life to do their dirt.
They are simply sadists.
She's a dyke, just look at the bottom photo...she's thinking of her housewife at home. otherwise...why not "block" the stalker on FB? If it was OUTSIDE of FB, it definitely needs investigation. What she did was stupid, and she's a skinny skank anyhow, who would stalk her but for Rosie?
I can't speak for German law, but here in the good old USA, going after a stalker through the legal system requires a lot of time and money on the part of the person being stalked. In the meantime, the stalker continues his/her activities and sometimes this leads to the death or injury of the victim. Even when the stalker is finally convicted and sentenced, there is little legal oversight of the perpetrator. If this man is not the stalker, let the authorities investigate the incident and find the real culprit. Then both victims can press charges and I'm sure the perp's identity theft will bring a stiffer sentence than the stalking offense.
Is it just me, or does the second photo look like she's giving the universal gesture for "wank"?
Oh, I don't think it's accurate to say that "anyone can use any name on Facebook.".
I outed some of my stalkers and they did just fine.