Karlsruhe - The German Consitutional Court gave the green light Thursday to the release of controversial cannibalist movie "Rohtenburg" after a lower court had blocked the film to protect the convicted murderer's rights.

The film "Rohtenburg" dramatized the case of Armin Meiwes, who in March 2001 killed, dismembered and partially devoured a victim in the northern German town of Rotenburg. The victim had volunteered out of a sexual desire to suffer extreme pain.

The low-budget film was shown in the United States in 2006. It was directed by Martin Weisz, 39, a German-born maker of music videos, according to German film distributor Senator.

On March 3, 2006, a state court sitting in Kassel blocked the German release of the movie.

The court ruled that the personality rights of the real "cannibal of Rotenburg" outweighed the right of artistic freedom. Personality rights are a special class of rights in Germany that prevent the lives of private people being held up to public mockery.

At a 2004 trial in the city of Kassel, Meiwes, who was arrested after advertising for new victims on the internet, received eight and a half years in prison for manslaughter, but an appeal court ruled this was too little in a case that shocked the world.

At the retrial in 2006, the conviction was upgraded to the graver charge of murder. Psychiatrists told the court Meiwes was mentally disturbed but not insane, because he understood his own acts.

In its ruling to lift the ban on the film in Germany, the Constitutional Court said it would not harm Meiwes' personality rights. It pointed out that he himself had authorized the publication of a book and thus himself exposed to public scrutiny. The film's deviations from the book were only minimal, the court said.

The court will probably have to reassess the case again soon since Meiwes has announced that he will send another petition to the constitutional court once the ruling is in print. (dpa)