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Jokes About Erdogan Aren't Funny in Germany

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  • Jokes About Erdogan Aren't Funny in Germany

    Person of the year and all...
    Jokes About Erdogan Aren't Funny in Germany

    The government has allowed authorities to prosecute—if they choose to do so—Jan Böhmermann, a satirist who mocked the Turkish leader on TV.
    Morris MacMatzen / Reuters
    http://www.theatlantic.com/internati...t-case/478437/
    Text Size

    Krishnadev Calamur Apr 15, 2016 News

    Updated on April 15 at 2:28 p.m. ET

    German Chancellor Angela Merkel paved the way Friday for the possible prosecution of a German satirist who recited on television a poem that lampooned Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish president.

    At a news conference to announce the decision, Merkel said it “means neither a prejudgment of the person affected nor a decision about the limits of freedom of art, the press, and opinion.” In other words, it’s up to prosecutors to decide if they will bring charges against Jan Böhmermann, who two weeks ago on ZDF, the public broadcaster, recited a sexually explicit poem about the Turkish leader on late-night television.

    At the root of the controversy is a satirical song on Erdogan from another German TV show, called extra3. The lyrics of that song were mild, but prompted Turkey to demand that it be removed from the Internet.

    Enter Böhmermann, who decided to test the limits of German free-speech laws. Indeed, his poem on ZDF made references to the size of Erdogan’s penis, as well as the Turkish leader’s supposed sexual proclivities, his alleged predilection for child pornography, and his actions against Turkey’s minorities, especially the Kurds. (And, The Guardian adds, throughout his performance, Böhmermann is “advised by another comedian impersonating a media lawyer, who tells him this poem is precisely the sort of thing that does not qualify as satire and is therefore illegal.”)

    Needless to say, the Turkish government, which has made a habit of stifling domestic dissent, especially in the media, was displeased. Erdogan’s lawyer in Germany filed a cease and desist order, wanting the clip removed. Böhmermann declined and ZDF, the public broadcaster, defended him, saying the poem was permitted under German law, though it did remove the video of Böhmermann reciting it from its online archive. At first Merkel defended the right to freedom of expression, but her position appeared to evolve when she labeled the poem “deliberately offensive.”

    Still, offending the Turkish government is one thing; breaking German law is another. It is the latter that Böhmermann could face prosecution for (though it didn’t help his cause that Merkel is negotiating with Erdogan’s government the implementation of a crucial EU agreement to resettle some refugees in Turkey and reduce the number coming into Europe). German law prohibits both personal defamation, which carries a year-long prison sentence, as well as insulting foreign leaders, which can carry a five-year prison sentence. It’s unlikely, however, that even if prosecution proceeds, and Böhmermann is convicted, he’ll serve any prison time. In announcing her decision Friday, Merkel also said her government would move to repeal the law that makes insulting foreign leaders a crime.

    At issue is the German law—paragraph 103 of the German criminal code—that makes Böhmermann’s potential prosecution possible. The paragraph has its roots in Germany’s lèse-majesté laws of the 19th century that prohibited perceived insults of the member of the monarchy. The modern law has two parts: the offended party, in this case Erdogan, must complain, and the German government must authorize action, which is what Merkel did with her announcement on Friday. For the most part, this law is little known in Germany, and rarely used. The Guardian provides an excellent account of its recent history:

    More recently, paragraph 103 has become known in Germany as the “Shah paragraph”, after the Iranian leader Mohammed Reza Pahlavi tried to get demonstrators prosecuted after a visit in 1967. The German interior minister at the time flew to Tehran and managed to persuade Pahlavi to drop the matter.

    The last time it troubled German courts was six years ago, when a Bavarian judge ruled that a banner showing Pope Benedict with a red ribbon and condoms on his fingers had been unfairly removed from a Christopher Street Day parade in Munich.

    Since then, however, German officials have moved to repeal the law—Merkel said her government would do so by 2018. Germany isn’t the only European country where offending a foreign head of state is a crime: Similar laws exist in Italy, Poland, and Switzerland. Other European countries still have lèse-majesté laws on the books because they remain monarchies, though of the constitutional variety—but those laws are seldom, if ever, used.

    But in Turkey where Erdogan was elected president in 2014 (after serving as prime minister for the previous decade), things are a little different. Newsrooms deemed critical by the president have been attacked, journalists arrested and charged with espionage, an opposition newspaper seized, and foreign reporters deported and harassed.

    Erdogan’s legal campaign against Böhmermann can be seen as an overseas manifestation of his actions against Turkish journalists, and not an unusual one. As I reported last month, Erdogan’s security detail assaulted reporters and protesters at an event at which the Turkish president was speaking in Washington, D.C.—just blocks from the White House.
    To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

  • #2
    More recently, paragraph 103 has become known in Germany as the “Shah paragraph”, after the Iranian leader Mohammed Reza Pahlavi tried to get demonstrators prosecuted after a visit in 1967. The German interior minister at the time flew to Tehran and managed to persuade Pahlavi to drop the matter.
    Actually, it's mostly that Reza Pahlavi did successfully sue a couple people based on it in the 50s. There were serious attempts to broaden its scope in 1958 under "Lex Soraya", named after Pahlavi's wife, and again in 1962 - at the time freedom of press was an iffy thing in Germany anyway.

    It should be noted that the third thing that the law requires is reciprocity - the country of the offended has to have the same on the books. This has been the case since 1876.

    The last time it troubled German courts was six years ago, when a Bavarian judge ruled that a banner showing Pope Benedict with a red ribbon and condoms on his fingers had been unfairly removed from a Christopher Street Day parade in Munich.
    Mmm, last I checked that verdict went the other way. They only denied that it may have violated §166 StGB - the blasphemy paragraph. §103 is used as an excuse to remove banners and interfere in political rallies pretty regularly since the early 80s, more so since the Supreme Court ruled in '81 that such a removal in '75 of a banner that offended the Iranian state was legal. It's been used mostly against Kurdish in recent times iirc.

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      • #4
        If you don't want people making fun of or insulting you don't get into politics.

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        • #5
          Now the Netherlands.

          This guy should be an international pariah.

          Turkish hotline for Erdogan insults angers Dutch

          21 April 2016
          http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36104691

          The Turkish consulate in Rotterdam has infuriated Dutch MPs by calling on Turkish groups in the Netherlands to inform it of insults against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

          Several MPs complained of the "long arm of the Turkish state" while the Dutch PM said it was a "strange" move.

          Last week, Germany allowed the prosecution of a top satirist for insulting Mr Erdogan to proceed.

          Jan Boehmermann had read a crude poem on TV, aimed at testing German law.

          Both Germany and the Netherlands have old lese majeste laws against insulting the head of a friendly head of state.
          'Scared'

          Initially the Turkish embassy declined to comment, saying merely that it had seen an increase in hate messages.

          But after the story had prompted an outcry in the Netherlands, the embassy said there had been a misunderstanding.

          It said a consulate employee had used an unfortunate choice of words in its message sent to Turkish groups in the Netherlands, Dutch broadcaster NOS reported. Apparently the consulate had only asked to hear about racist statements and hate campaigns.
          Jump media player
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          Media captionJan Boehmermann could be prosecuted under German law for insulting a foreign head of state

          Police protection for Boehmermann

          Satire row stirs German fears over free speech

          Merkel allows inquiry into Boehmermann

          Some 400,000 people of Turkish origin live in the Netherlands and the Dutch branch of Turkish opposition party CHP said it had taken calls from a number of concerned people.

          "They're scared because they said something critical in the past for example on Facebook or Twitter," a spokesperson told Dutch Turkish website Zaman Vandaag.

          The Dutch cabinet called for a clarification from Turkey over the hotline, amid demands from some MPs for the Turkish ambassador to be summoned by the foreign ministry.

          Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he was surprised. "It's not obvious what the Turkish government is trying to achieve with this action," he said.

          Integration Minister Lodewijk Asscher accused the Turkish embassy of interfering in freedom of speech in the Netherlands.

          Almost 2,000 cases have been opened in Turkey itself for insulting Mr Erdogan. But there has been uproar in Germany that a satirist could apparently be prosecuted at the behest of a foreign power.

          Last week Chancellor Angela Merkel, who had termed the poem "deliberately offensive", decided to let prosecutors decide whether to press charges.
          The Turkish consulate's offending email
          Image copyright Turkish consulate

          "To the relevant person,

          We ask urgently for the names and written comments of people who have given derogatory, disparaging, hateful and defamatory statements against the Turkish president, Turkey and Turkish society in general, which have reached the members and relatives of your non-governmental organisations or fellow citizens from your surroundings via their social media addresses (such as Twitter or Facebook) or via the official address and e-mail addresses of your non-governmental organisation, to be sent in before the close of business on 21 April 2016 by email to the consulate general in Rotterdam

          Yours sincerely..."

          The latest affair has shone yet more light on old laws aimed at protecting friendly leaders.

          Chancellor Merkel has promised that article 103 of the German criminal code, which threatens imprisonment for insulting a head of state, will be removed by 2018.

          The Dutch government, too, has said it will reform its old law. The justice minister said the constitution should not be a museum for out-of-date articles.
          To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

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