German Court Bans Bulk of Satirical Poem About Turkish Leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan Judges in Hamburg say TV sketch aired by comedian Jan Böhmermann violated Turk’s rights By Bertrand Benoit and Andrea Thomas

Posted By on May 18th, 2016

http://www.wsj.com/articles/german-court-bans-bulk-of-satirical-poem-about-turkish-president-recep-tayyip-erdogan-1463512736

BERLIN—A German court on Tuesday banned a comedian from repeating large sections of a satirical text about Recep Tayyip Erdogan, handing the Turkish President a partial victory in his efforts to silence mockery and criticism in Germany of his person and policies.

The regional Hamburg court ruling on a complaint by the Turkish president said the text by comedian Jan Böhmermann qualified as satire and that those parts of it targeted at the president’s policies or leadership could be quoted.

However, the bulk of the text was described by the court as religiously disparaging, “reflecting prejudice of a racist nature” and containing sexual content. Those parts breached Mr. Erdogan’s rights and couldn’t be repeated, the court said.

The lawyer representing Mr. Erdogan in this case couldn’t be reached for comment, but Ralf Höcker, a lawyer representing the president in a separate but related case welcomed the decision. “Racist insults aren’t covered by the right to freedom of opinion,” said Mr. Höcker. “That’s this decision’s important message.” The Turkish President’s office declined to comment.

The court order, or preliminary injunction, can be appealed.

Meanwhile, Christian Schertz, a lawyer for Mr. Böhmermann, said the court had failed to grasp the comedian’s ironic detachment.

“The regional court of Hamburg makes the mistake of dissecting the poem and taking out and banning certain remarks that it regards as being degrading. This isn’t possible in the field of artistic freedom. Instead, the poem must be considered in its entirety and in the context of the (television) show.” CONTINUE AT SITE

 

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