BERLIN (AP) — A German court has ruled that a man serving a life sentence for killing an eating an acquaintance in a case that appalled the country can't be released early.

Armin Meiwes was convicted of murder and sentenced to life at a 2006 retrial that capped a long legal saga. He had argued that the death in 2001 of Bernd Juergen Brandes, who he said answered an internet post seeking a young man for "slaughter and consumption," should be classified as a mercy killing.

It is customary in Germany for people sentenced to life to be released after serving 15 years. But a court in Kassel rejected his release, and the Frankfurt state court on Friday rejected Meiwes' appeal.