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The Böhmermann scandal is now entering its third week, and only now is it becoming clear just what the five-minute clip has set in motion. It didn't just shine the spotlight on the Turkish president's sensitivity and the limits of chancellor's steadfastness, it has also unsettled all of Germany -- a country which normally doesn't spend much time thinking about satire and art and the freedoms associated with them.
On Friday, the need for doing so became even more apparent. Chancellor Merkel announced that the federal government had granted permission for criminal proceedings to go ahead against Jan Böhmermann under the controversial Paragraph 103 of the German Criminal Code. The law makes it illegal to insult the representatives of foreign countries. The federal government must approve the initiation of Paragraph 103 proceedings.
By granting permission, Merkel has gone against the advice of Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Justice Minister Heiko Maas, both of whom are members of the Social Democratic Party, Merkel's junior coalition partner. The chancellor confirmed that the coalition partners had expressed "differing views."
Yet even as she announced that legal proceedings would go ahead, the chancellor also signaled her intention to abolish the law before the end of the current legislative session, saying it was "unnecessary." The chancellor also shared her concerns about the situation of the press in Turkey and the plights of individual journalists in the country. She added that the German government would ensure freedom of expression at home and she emphasized that the independence of the judicial system applied as much in Turkey as it does in Germany and "other countries in the democratic world
Ah, if complexities were not so complex, eh? Our simplistic black and white interpretations could just find far more frequent application, couldn't they?Germany Green Lights Legal Case Against Erdogan Critical Comic - SPIEGEL ONLINE
So what is it with Merkel, Alzheimer's? The Iron Lady is now kowtowing to that dangerous putze and Saddam Wanna-be Erdogan is it?
It's hard to unravel what is so particularly fascist in Merkel's bunch about this whole thing.
Dumb, yeah. Incredibly dumb, yeah.
Nevertheless the vote on it in the government resulted in a draw (tie), something the coalition junior partner Social Democrats could not have achieved on their own. What is indeed troublesome is that the Chancelor(esse), as the one having the last word, did the sway.
Technically and legally this is not a case of using an existing law to achieve anything, it's a case of adhering to an existing law. Antiquated, stupid and ridiculous as that law may be.
Yet one needs to understand that the German government has absolutely no legal role in any court proceedings that may follow, if indeed they do. That's up to the Federal Attorney's office which now needs to investigate whether legal proceedings be opened or not.
In view of the fact that Erdogan has also filed a parallel suit (this time as a "private" person) with the attorney's office of Mainz, his overblown ego might possibly be served there anyway (the paragraph 103 that deals with insult to foreign heads of state playing absolutely no role) but thoe proceedings could equally end in dropping the case altogether. As could the now open proceedings by the Federal Attorney's office.
In that context I'd hold Merkel's decision to have been most unwise. Where she's known and often praised for thinking things to the end (from the end), the physics scientist in her dictates that equations be made with firm constants. But there are none here, the public's emotive reaction hardly serving to qualify as even one.
She should have had the guts to say no and screw whatever Turkish sensitivities in general and Erdogan's in particular. He's not going to renege on the current deal anyway, getting money, getting visa free entry and getting more speedy negotiations on joining the EU is something he'd only put at risk if he were absolutely gaga.
But then again, judging by his general attitude, he just might think he'd be able to strengthen his support at home in the long run, doing just that. He's not so stupid as not to realize that Turkey will never find acceptance into the EU. Quite apart from his undemocratic form of government, there are economic parameters to adhere to and Turkey doesn't have a hope of fulfilling them in any foreseeable future.
A veritable conundrum, having to deal with somebody like that. Yet, no viable alternative available, one has to work with what is and not with how one would like things to be. Dead if you do, dead if you don't. But there's no better plan around, least of all from those now united in criticism. Not in Germany and least of all in the overall EU.
Germany Green Lights Legal Case Against Erdogan Critical Comic - SPIEGEL ONLINE
So what is it with Merkel, Alzheimer's? The Iron Lady is now kowtowing to that dangerous putze and Saddam Wanna-be Erdogan is it?
It WILL be nuked in another year or so, the motion already under preparation.This stupid law should really be skipped. IIRC, it dates back to the late 19th century, when Germany was still an authoritarian monarchy.
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