By CYNTHIA KROET , IVO OLIVEIRA and
MATTHEW KARNITSCHNIG
Merkel defends
freedom of speech — but lets case against German comedian go ahead.
German Chancellor
Angela Merkel said Friday she will permit a criminal investigation into the
comedian Jan Böhmermann on charges that he insulted Turkish President Recep
Tayyip Erdoğan, while promising to overturn the law in question and arguing
that artistic freedom was an “elementary” right.
Turkey made a
formal request to Germany on Monday to file charges
against Böhmermann, who called Erdoğan a “goat-f—-er” in a March 31 broadcast.
Merkel, announcing her
decision, said that in the specific case of a paragraph in the German criminal code against insulting
representatives or symbols of a foreign state, it was up to the government to grant permission for
prosecutors to go ahead. After examination of Turkey’s request by the foreign, justice and interior
ministries and her own office, the decision was
that “the government will grant permission in this case.”
The case has left Merkel in
both a political and legal bind. While Germany needs Turkey’s support to slow the flow of refugees coming
to Europe, Berlin doesn’t want to be seen sacrificing its own values in the
process. Yet the German law cited by Erdoğan, which dates back to the 19th
century, may give Merkel the cover she needs to weather the uproar.
The German chancellor is due
to visit the Turkish town of Gaziantep, near the Syrian border, on April 23
with European Council President Donald Tusk and Commission First Vice-President
Frans Timmermans.
Merkel’s message on Friday
appeared to be that while she was compelled by the law to allow the case to
move forward, she disagreed with the statute and planned to overturn it before
elections next year. Many German legal scholars have also argued there was
little legal basis for Merkel to block the case.
That said, given the broader
concerns about media freedom, Merkel could have also argued that since Erdoğan has filed a separate
defamation complaint, the government saw no need to invoke the law on offending
foreign leaders. More than 80 percent of Germans are opposed to the
investigation, according to a poll published by Die Welt. Most Germans see it
as a transparent attempt to appease Erdoğan.
Merkel’s calculation seems to be that her
countrymen will ultimately care more about getting the refugee crisis under
control. It will likely take months, if not years before the case is decided.
In the meantime, the uproar will die down. In the end, German courts are likely
to decide with Böhmermann, legal analysts say, arguing that the sketch is
protected by artistic freedom.
Nonetheless, the episode is a reminder of
difficult position Europe put itself in by cutting the refugee deal with
Turkey. Critics of the pact who warned it would allow Erdoğan to impose his
values on Europe appear vindicated.
In a televised
statement, Merkel said there had been “different opinions” between her
conservatives and their Social Democrat (SPD) coalition partners, who run the
German foreign and justice ministries. She added that the government would
propose abolishing the rarely used lèse majesté law by 2018.
“We’re of the
opinion that permission to investigate under paragraph 104-A of the criminal
code should not have been granted. Freedom of opinion, of the press and
artistic freedom are the highest values of our constitution,” said Foreign
Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in a joint news conference with his SPD colleague Justice Minister Heiko
Maas.
“Prosecution of
satire because of ‘lèse majesté’ does not fit with a modern democracy,” said
SPD parliamentary leader Thomas Oppermann on Twitter.
If found guilty,
Jan Böhmermann could face a three-year jail sentence or, more likely, a
fine. Broadcaster ZDF said it will stand by Böhmermann, who has
been under police protection. Foreign media, including the Washington Post, have urged Merkel to stand up for freedom of
expression against Turkish leader whom the Post said had “all but crushed
domestic criticism of his regime” by muzzling journalists and aggressively
pursuing slander cases.
Merkel said
Germany and Turkey had “close and friendly ties,” as well as being economic
partners and allies in NATO, but emphasized that Berlin was “greatly worried by
the situation of the media in Turkey and the fate of individual journalists, as
well as limits to the right to protest.”
Freedom of
expression and artistic freedom are “elementary for pluralism and democracy,”
as is the independence of the courts — which in Germany’s case means it is up
to the judiciary to weight the merits of the case against Böhmermann, she said.
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