BERLIN, Germany (A.W.)—Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters that Berlin has accepted a formal appeal from Ankara to seek the prosecution of German comedian Jan Boehmermann, who has been accused of poking fun at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“The government will give its authorization in the case at hand,” Merkel told reporters on April 15, reported RFE/RL. Merkel added that it was up to the courts to decide whether or not the comedian is guilty.
Ankara demanded that Boehmermann be prosecuted for insulting a foreign head of state, which Merkel accepted according to section 103 of the German criminal code, which refers to the insulting of organs or representatives of foreign states, according to RFE/RL. While speaking to reporters, Merkel also said that Germany would scrap the rarely enforced section of the criminal code by 2018.
Boehmermann read a poem he penned about Erdogan on Germany’s ZDF television two weeks ago. According to the comedian, the poem was meant to poke fun at the widespread state censorship in Turkey, especially after another German comedian’s satirical song about Erdogan angered Turkish authorities a few weeks ago.
“The fiction of the Turkish state and society embracing European values is becoming increasingly apparent. The sad reality is that European leaders are allowing Turkish authoritarians to impose their values on Europe,” the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) said in a Facebook post on the Boehmermann incident.
A black day for Europe to buckle, of all people, to murderer and fascist erDOGan.
Is there not freedom of expression in supposedly democratic Germany?
Merkel should not be accommodating the absurd and despicable “appeal” from Ankara in view of what Erdogan’s ancestors did to the Armenians and the Turks’ refusal to acknowledge their vicious, barbaric crimes against humanity. I understand that Realpolitik is unavoidable in today’s world, but why do Western leaders allow themselves to be constantly bullied by a criminal psychopath like Erdogan? And let us not forget that Germany was no friend of the Armenians in 1915.
There is no freedom of expression in Germany, because Germany hasn’t finished paying for its loss of WWII. Germany’s sovereignty is questionable, and this is on plain display with the pathetic, cowardly behavior of German politicians. Only it seems now their servile attitude towards the US and UK has actually progressed to Turkey’s ISIS commander-in-chief Erdogan, making them quite laughable, but in a tragic way.
Hopefully german people shall not forget merkel’s mistakes at elections.
With her invitation to all Moslem refugees to flee to Europe, she not only destroyed the future of Germany, but also the development of many other European countries. It´s by far NOT enough that she is not re-elected in 2017.
She should be sentenced and go to jail for working against the German people and against her oath !