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April 2, 2014

German officials ban journalist from naming his son ‘Wikileaks’

German officials have banned a local journalist from naming his son "Wikileaks" after the online platform the dad is a fan of. Iraqi-born journalist, Haja Hamalaw, 28, said he had already chosen the name when he learned his wife was pregnant and when his son was born he announced that he wanted to have the unusual name for the child.

But local officials in the southern border city of Passau, who have strict guidelines that mean unusual names which might cause later embarrassment for the child are banned, refused to accept WikiLeaks is a viable name.

Passau city spokeswoman Karin Schmeller said: "After explaining that this would cause problems for the youngster the father agreed to opt for Dako on the birth certificate, although friends and family are calling him by the original choice of WikiLeaks."

Central European News

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