Austrians have right to insult their politicians

Austrians have the right to swear at politicians and make insulting gestures at them, a court has ruled.

The ruling comes after Heinzchristian Strache, the leader of the far-right Freedom Party, sued a group of Left-wing activists over a video attacking him and his policies.

Mr Strache, the vice-chancellor in Austria’s coalition government, argued it broke laws against public insults and defaming the state. But an appeals court this week upheld an earlier ruling that the video was protected under freedom of speech laws.