begun publishing transphobic content as well. In February 2023 she organised a petition against the delivery of weapons to Ukraine, together with Sahra Wagenknecht. Tax fraud In the 1980s, Schwarzer set up an account at the Zürich-based private bank Lienhardt & Partner to keep her assets hidden from German tax authorities. During the following years, Schwarzer transferred earnings gained from book sales and public presentations to this Swiss bank account, thus avoiding taxation in Germany. Including interest and compound interest, her illegal assets piled up to an amount of 4 million euros. According to Section 371 of the German tax code ("Abgabenordnung"), the perpetrator of a tax fraud may avoid punishment if he or she admits to the offence and provides full disclosure of unpaid taxes to the authorities (German: strafbefreiende Selbstanzeige). Schwarzer attempted to make such disclosure in secret to German tax authorities. However, in February 2014, the German newspaper Der Spiegel wrote an investigative article on the topic, turning the whole affair public. As a reaction, Schwarzer made a statement on her private webpage on the matter. Under the heading "In eigener Sache" ("on one's own account"), Schwarzer admitted to being a tax fraudster. In that statement, Schwarzer tried to self-exculpate her crimes by claiming that in the past, she had been scared of political opponents in Germany and "was honestly afraid" that she might have to leave the country and thus needed to be financially prepared. In May 2014, German tax authorities and criminal prosecutors raided a number of properties owned by Schwarzer. At the same time, judge-issued search warrants on several of Schwarzer's banking accounts were executed. It turned out that Schwarzer's initial voluntary disclosure submitted to German tax authorities was incorrect and she had in fact never admitted the whole amount of her unpaid taxes. In such cases, voluntary disclosures do not have any exculpatory effect under German tax law. Consequently, in July 2016, Schwarzer was fined for tax fraud with a penalty of a six-figure amount by the local court ("Amtsgericht") of Cologne. Awards 1991: of Wuppertal for her life achievements 1992: of the Westdeutsche Akademie für Kommunikation 1996: Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany am Bande (Cross of Merit on Ribbon) 1997: Schubart-Literaturpreis of Aalen 1997: 1997 of Verband Deutscher Staatsbürgerinnen 1999: Integration Prize of the 2003: 2004: (honorary prize) of Bauer Verlagsgruppe 2004: Bambi Award for Wer wird Millionär?