A German court, Landgericht Hamburg, has decided that tv presenter Jan Böhmermann can not repeat parts of his infamous poem about Turkish President Erdogan.
The court finds passages in the text abusive and defamatory. Frankfurter Allgemeine reports that refusal to follow this ruling can lead to an administrative fine of up to 250,000 euros or administrative detention of up to six months.
Böhmermann now has the possibility to appeal against the verdict.
However, this is not the main trial. The Section 103 case will be tried by the Mainz Criminal Court at a later point.
Turkish President Erdogan has also applied for an injunction against Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner. This following Springers support for Böhmermann. The injunction is to be tried by the Cologne Landgericht. But this court has already indicated that it will not recognize the case. This can, in turn, be appealed against by Erdogan’s lawyers.
This is a can of worms.
The entire case is troublesome from a freedom of speech perspective. Especially as it also concerns freedom of the press and artistic expressions. And it gets outright awkward and absurd when German courts are deconstructing Böhmermann’s poem to decide what parts should be considered as acceptable humor and what parts should not.
There were, at one point, hopes that the German legal system would simply throw out President Erdogan’s complaints and make a firm stand for free speech. But now it seems as if the case will take a different turn.
What makes the case even worse is the fact that the German government allowed President Erdogan’s complaints on political grounds. Germany simply needs Turkey to stem the flow of refugees from Syria (and other countries). So much so that the government is prepared to put free speech on the line.
This will be a defining moment for German democracy.
/ HAX
• Gericht verbietet Teile von Böhmermanns „Schmähgedicht“ »
• Erdogan geht auch gegen Springer-Chef Döpfner vor »
Update:
• BBC: German court rules against comic Boehmermann over Erdogan poem »
Hello, eller hej.
If the poem is the crime, and also the partly proof of the crime, then that is what must be admitted before the court, yes? Then how can he be convicted if the evidence may not be presented nor scrutinised?
Admittedly, I have next to no knowledge of the German court system, but I believe it is a fundamental principle of the justice system, at least in the civilised west, that all evidence must be made public before the court and the defending counsel, is it not?
Comradely greetings from Sweden,
Rikard, schoolteacher and participant in The Spectators ‘Defamatory Limerick about Erdogan’ contest.