Germany Turkey: Merkel allows inquiry into comic's Erdogan insult

  • 43 minutes ago
  • From the section Europe
Jan Boehmermann (file pic) Image copyright Reuters
Image caption Satirist Jan Boehmermann poked fun at Turkey's president in an obscene poem on TV
The German government has approved a criminal inquiry into a comic who mocked the Turkish president, Chancellor Angel Merkel announced.
By law, the government must approve any use of an article of the criminal code on insulting foreign leaders.
Mrs Merkel stressed that the courts would have the final word.
And she added that her government would move to repeal the article. Turkey sought the prosecution after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was mocked.
Prosecutors will have to decide whether to proceed against comedian Jan Boehmermann, who crudely mocked Mr Erdogan in a poem. If convicted he could face a fine or a prison sentence.
Some experts say he has a strong defence because his poem could be seen as part of a wider piece of satire about free speech, rather than a deliberate insult, the BBC's Damien McGuinness reports from Berlin.
An earlier remark by Mrs Merkel that the poem was "deliberately offensive" laid her open to accusations that she was not standing up for free speech because Europe needed Turkey to help solve the migrant crisis.
Mrs Merkel said the government would seek to repeal Paragraph 103 in the penal code, concerning insults against foreign heads of state.
She said her government was divided over whether Boehmermann should face prosecution. The comedian was given police protection this week.
The poem was broadcast by ZDF television two weeks ago. The public TV channel has decided not to broadcast his weekly satire programme this week because of the furore surrounding Boehmermann.

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