Top German court throws out comic's case over Erdogan poem
Germany’s highest court says it has dismissed a television comedian’s complaint against rulings that prohibited him from repeating parts of a crude poem he wrote about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Germany's highest court said Thursday that it has dismissed a television comedian's complaint against rulings that prohibited him from repeating parts of a crude poem he wrote about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
The legal battle goes back to 2016, when comic Jan Boehmermann recited the poem on public television to illustrate something he said wouldn’t be allowed even in democratic Germany. The poem described Erdogan as “stupid, cowardly and uptight” before descending into sexual references.
Then Chancellor Angela Merkel granted a Turkish request to allow possible prosecution for insulting a foreign head of state. A Hamburg court issued an injunction ordering Boehmermann not to repeat most of the poem.
An appeals court upheld that decision, rejecting both Boehmermann’s appeal and a bid by Erdogan’s lawyers to have the ban extended to the whole poem.
The case eventually went to the Federal Constitutional Court, which on Thursday published a curt Jan. 26 ruling dismissing Boehmermann's complaint. It said that it wouldn't consider the case “because it has no prospect of success,” and didn't elaborate on its reasoning.
In a separate case, a Berlin court in 2019 rejected a bid by Boehmermann to ban the German government from repeating Merkel's assessment that the poem was “deliberately hurtful.”