Court
bans German comedian from reciting parts of Erdoğan poem
Sexual
references involving the Turkish president in Jan Böhmermann’s
satire were ruled unacceptable.
By CYNTHIA KROET
5/18/16, 8:31 AM CET
The Hamburg regional
court on Tuesday banned German comedian Jan Böhmermann from reciting
parts of his poem in which he offended Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdoğan.
In line with German
freedom of expression laws, the court ruled that the comedian can
still recite 6 of the 24 lines of his satire.
If Böhmermann cites
the banned parts again, he faces a €250,000 fine or a prison
sentence of 6 months.
The court said that
“Erdoğan does not have to put up with the expression of certain
passages in view of their outrageous content attacking (his) honor.”
It acknowledges that
Böhmermann’s poem, which he recited during his satirical show on
German public television, was a satire, but said the sexual
references directed at the Turkish president, were unacceptable.
The satirist’s
lawyer Christian Schertz, who is likely to appeal the ruling said the
court’s decision is “wrong” and “against artistic freedom.”
The recital has
caused a diplomatic row between Germany and Turkey and Chancellor
Angela Merkel authorized criminal proceedings against the comedian
after Turkey requested he be prosecuted for offending a foreign head
of state under an obscure law.
Authors:
Cynthia Kroet
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