MADRID: A Spanish court said on Tuesday it could not investigate the ex-husband of a German television star accused of spreading AI-generated pornographic images of her as the headline-dominating case fell outside its jurisdiction.
The investigation of allegations by Collien Fernandes against her former spouse Christian Ulmen will however continue in Germany, where the case has sparked an outcry and a debate about digital violence.
Fernandes told German media of her shock at discovering hundreds of fake pornographic images of her circulating on the internet.
She suspected her former husband of creating them with AI and sharing them via fake social media accounts that appeared to be hers.
Ulmen, a fellow actor, denies wrongdoing.
Prosecutors in the German city of Itzehoe announced they had reopened a probe into Ulmen, but Fernandes also submitted a complaint in Spain, where they once lived and which has stricter laws concerning violence against women.
But a court on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca ruled that the proceedings would be handed over to the Itzhoe prosecutors because the case came under German jurisdiction.
"The link the case has with Germany is clear, which puts German jurisdiction in a privileged position to continue the investigation it had already started," the ruling said.
The alleged offences and their "main effects" occurred in Germany or on digital platforms that publish in German, while any harm to Fernandes's "reputation, honour and esteem" would have also happened in that country.
Thousands of Germans have taken to the streets in support of Fernandes, whose allegations sparked intense media debate about a rise in sexualised "deepfakes" that mostly target women. – AFP
