German authorities seize research material from Die Zeit

German prosecutors and the State Criminal Police Office have seized interview recordings from the weekly newspaper Die Zeit following a court order from the Hamburg Regional Court. The material, which pertains to a podcast titled ‘House of Block’ regarding the Christina Block criminal proceedings, was handed over after authorities threatened searches of both the journalist’s home and the publishing house's premises.

Die Zeit is not accused of any wrongdoing in the criminal case. The publisher provided the material in a sealed format while simultaneously filing a formal complaint.

The German Journalists Association (dju) has strongly criticized the seizure, demanding the immediate return of the recordings. Lars Hansen, co-chair of the dju, stated that research material should not serve as a repository for judicial evidence and argued that the threat of searches effectively bypasses constitutional protections for press freedom and source protection. The association warned that such actions erode the trust necessary for investigative journalism.