Merkel allows prosecution of German comedian who mocked Turkish president

[Martinus]

Merkel allows prosecution of German comedian who mocked Turkish president

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has cleared the way for the prosecution of German comedian Jan Böhmermann, whose poem mocking Turkey's president has become the centerpiece of a clash between Germany's free-speech traditions and the government's efforts to safeguard its important relations with Turkey.

In a news conference Friday, Merkel emphasized that it will now be up to German courts to decide whether Böhmermann is guilty of insulting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. But critics — including members of her own government — have described it as a betrayal of values protecting open expression.

"In a country under the rule of law, it is not up to the government to decide," Merkel said. "Prosecutors and courts should weight personal rights against the freedom of press and art."

Although Böhmermann could face several years in jail if convicted, lawyers familiar with similar cases expect that the comedian would have to pay a fine, if at all.

The stakes are potentially higher for Merkel.

Criticism of her reaction to the incident had mounted ahead of the announcement. Opponents have said the chancellor made a glaring misstep earlier by calling the poem "deliberately offending" — a comment interpreted by some as support for Erdogan, who has been accused of cracking down on press freedom in Turkey.

Not allowing the charges to proceed could have jeopardized a refugee deal with Turkey, which was recently negotiated. Turkish officials had publicly pressured Merkel to allow the charges. Earlier this week, Turkey's deputy prime minister, Numan Kurtulmus, said that the poem was a slap against all Turks.

"That is why the Republic of Turkey demands that this impertinent man is immediately punished for insulting a president, within the scope of German law," Kurtulmus said. He went on to call the poem a "serious crime against humanity" that had "crossed all lines of indecency."

In her statement Friday, Merkel tried to appease critics by announcing that she would seek to repeal the controversial German law against insulting heads of state.

Merkel was forced to decide on the matter after the Turkish president had officially filed charges against Böhmermann earlier this week. The mock poem in question aired during a segment of ZDF Television's Neo Magazin Royale show last week. Some of the lines included accusations of bestiality and other unsavory things.

Merkel's decision followed clashes within her own government.

Germany's Social Democrats, the chancellor's coalition partners, wanted to prevent a court trial. One of the party's leading politicians, Thomas Oppermann, said prosecution for satire "does not fit into a modern democracy."

Another dissenter, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, called free expression "among the most important values protected by our constitution."

Udo Vetter, a defense lawyer and blogger, commented that Merkel's decision sends the wrong message. "It forces Germany's legal authorities to act on behalf of Mr. Erdogan," Vetter argued. But an internal report commissioned by the foreign ministry concluded that Böhmermann was most likely guilty of a criminal offense, according to Berlin's Tagesspiegel newspaper.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/04/15/merkel-allows-prosecution-of-german-comedian-who-mocked-turkish-president/?hpid=hp_hp-cards_hp-card-world%3Ahomepage%2Fcard

What the fuck? I am trying to come up with something more than a Tim-like pithy comment, but I am short for words, this is so outrageous. First, this dumb cunt invites all refugees to Germany - then, when it blows up horribly in her face, she strikes a deal with some tin pot dictator to keep them away. And now she is prosecuting her own people to keep up the crooked deal afloat. What a stupid bitch.

[Zanza]

I disagree with her decision. The paragraph in question is anachronistic as she said herself, so I do not consider it a violation of rule of law not to enforce it. There is no public interest to prosecute Böhmermann either as the pride of the Turkish president is not something that has a lot of legal value.

[Norgy]

It's just... wrong. On so many levels.

If anyone deserves to be poked fun at, it's Erdogan. He is a goatfucker.

This is an overdose of realpolitik, I think.

[derspiess]

Wow.

[celedhring]

How is it up to the German government to decide on this matter? What a strange law.

[Zanza]

How is it up to the German government to decide on this matter? What a strange law.

It's a lex specialis that protects the dignity of foreign governments and their representatives to allow the German state to uphold diplomatic relations with that state. As such it will only be enforced if the foreign state demands it and the German government allows it.

The government could just have denied the enforcement of that paragraph as Erdogan also filed a normal criminal complaint for insult against Böhmermann like any other private citizen can do. For this complaint, it would have been correct to say that it is the task of the judiciary to find out whether or not the law was broken.

But in this case, the law explicitely allows the government not to prosecute if they do not deem it in Germany's interest, so I agree with the foreign and the justice ministers who openly defied Merkel over this.

[The Brain]

Bestiality is unsavory now?

[Richard Hakluyt]

Will it be trial by jury or will magistrates decide?

[derspiess]

Krauts should require the insulted foreign leader to fill out Kafkaesque extensive paperwork to demand prosecution. 

[Richard Hakluyt]

The thing with blackmail is that the demands just keep on coming.

[The Brain]

We turn to Berlin to sentence Nazareth. We have no law to put a man to death.

[Zanza]

Will it be trial by jury or will magistrates decide?

As far as I can tell the case would be tried in the lowest level of the German court system as the potential punishment is not very high. The state prosecutor can ask the court to move it to the next higher level though. The lowest level has a single professional judge, the higher level has a panel of three judges. Juries don't exist in German courts. There are lay judges in very grave felony cases which are held in front of a panel of three professional and two lay judges.

[Legbiter]

 

[Martinus]

Bestiality is unsavory now?

He should have said Erdogan is into scheisse porn. No German court would sentence him.

[Malicious Intent]

It pains me to say this, but I think the government decided correctly. The law exists, so it can't be ignored (though parliament has now pledged to get rid of it as an anachronism). Merkel's legal team seems to think that said law has been broken. Many commentators in the past few days agreed. Even Böhmermann himself declared in his show, that reading his poem was illegal under German law. He decided to proceed anyway.

So if the government has sufficient reason to assume that a law has been broken and is asked by the allegedly damaged party (Erdogan) to enact said law, would it be in accordance with the rule of law to not have the courts decide on the matter?