Erdogan sues German comedian over satirical poem

By Zafer Fatih Beyaz

ANKARA

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday filed a criminal complaint against a German comedian over a satirical poem broadcast last year, the president’s lawyer said.

Huseyin Aydin submitted a 15-page complaint to the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office in Ankara against Jan Bohmermann, whose poem mocking Erdogan was shown on the ZDFneo TV channel in Germany in March last year.

The Turkish Penal Code carries a four-year prison sentence for insulting the president.

German prosecutors dropped a case against Bohmermann in October when they found insufficient evidence that the comedian had intended to insult Erdogan.

The case caused controversy in Germany after Chancellor Angela Merkel granted a Turkish request to open an investigation into whether Bohmermann had breached a law banning insults against the representatives of foreign governments.

Aydin said Bohmermann could be prosecuted in Turkey even though the alleged offense was committed in Germany.

Bohmermann claimed his poem was aimed at highlighting human rights abuses in Turkey but critics said the poem carried racist and abusive undertones.