Drugs scandal hits German TV star

By Ray Furlong BBC correspondent in Berlin

He is Germany's most controversial talk show host, a man who likes to put his guests under pressure.

But now Michel Friedman is the one feeling the heat.

Friedman has gone into hiding, and some feel he is being framed

He has been front page news ever since the police turned up a small quantity of cocaine during a raid on his home in Frankfurt.

It was a bombshell revelation.

Mr Friedman is also deputy head of the Jewish community and a prominent figure in the CDU, Germany's main conservative party.

But it is perhaps his role as celebrity inquisitor on his show, Watch Out, It's Friedman!, that makes his story so gripping for Germans.

There might be a bit of schadenfreude, to see a man who takes the moral high ground having problems himself

Rainer Haubrich, Die Welt newspaper

"Michel Friedman is a public person who always courted publicity," says Rainer Haubrich of Die Welt newspaper.

"He's getting a hard time because he's given a lot of people a hard time.

"There might be a bit of schadenfreude, to see a man who takes the moral high ground having problems himself."

Mr Friedman's role in the Jewish community has given added controversy to the scandal.

Some Jewish leaders have suggested the case might be used as a platform for anti-Semitism.

Mr Friedman was born in Paris to Polish Jews who were saved from Auschwitz by Oskar Schindler.

He has often been a strong voice speaking out against the far right.

Media frenzy

On this occasion, Mr Friedman is not commenting.

If Friedman is proven to have taken cocaine, this could damage the CDU and the credibility of its zero tolerance policy on drugs

CDU youth wing leader Tim Peters

He has cancelled his TV show and gone to ground, although a tabloid newspaper tracked him down to a hotel in Venice where it photographed him having dinner.

The paper also carried messages of support from other celebrities.

Some people think he has been framed.

So far, the leader of the Jewish community has stood by his deputy.

CDU leaders have not commented, but voices have been heard within the party calling for his membership to be suspended.

"If Friedman is proven to have taken cocaine, this could damage the CDU and the credibility of its zero tolerance policy on drugs," says Tim Peters, head of the party's youth wing in Berlin.

The investigations are only just beginning.

Hopes of an early breakthrough via a "hair test", in which a lock of Mr Friedman's hair was to determine whether he took drugs or not, have been dashed.

German justice authorities have declared that no further information will be forthcoming - to avoid feeding the ongoing media frenzy.