MIrthless Merkel Greenlights Prosecution of Comic for "Insulting" Turkey's Erdogan

How ridiculous! And shame on her for that.

Update: But wait--it gets worse. Angela is acting on Artie E.'s orders (as if he's the one in charge):

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government granted Turkey’s request to proceed with legal action against a German satirist who derided President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, risking a domestic backlash over freedom of expression. 

“We’re allowing this because we are confident of the strong justice system in our state,” Merkel told reporters in Berlin Friday. 

The  furor concerns a comedian with public broadcaster ZDF, Jan Boehmermann, who two weeks ago recited a lewd poem directed at Erdogan in an effort to test the boundaries of acceptable satire under a law that protects foreign heads of state from libel. German government consent was a precondition for prosecutors to continue any probe in the case. 

Erdogan himself also filed a complaint with German prosecutors seeking legal action. Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus on Monday said the German comedian had committed a “heavy crime against humanity” by insulting the Turkish head of state. “No one has the right to insult” Erdogan, Kurtulmus told reporters.

"No one has the right to insult" Erdogan? (What--like no one puts "Baby" Artie in a corner?

Well, maybe that's how things work in Artie's neo-caliphate. But here in the free West, insulting the high and mighty is supposed to be copacetic--a test of one's freedom, in fact.

In which case, Merkel's Germany gets a big fat "F". Why? Because in allowing the prosecution to go forward, it is signaling its willingness to allow free speech to fall by the wayside. If this freedom were as pivotal as it's supposed to be, its exercise would be protected, and would never come to trial. And, as we free speechers here in Canada well know, the need to "defend" ones' speech and endure a lengthy prosecution is the real punishment, even if your justice system is "strong" and, ultimately, you end up being acquitted.

Update: Mark Steyn has a message for Merkel (and anyone else who would abridge free speech for the sake of sparing someone's precious "feelings")--"No position should command special protection...":

 

Update: With this one statement, Merkel throws free speech under the bus:

"In a country under the rule of law, it is not up to the government to decide," Merkel said. "Prosecutors and courts should weight personal rights against the freedom of press and art."

Hey, it worked for the Spanish Inquisition, right? ;)


How do you say Auto da Fe in German?