German Chancellor Angela Merkel German Chancellor Angela Merkel  CREDIT:  MARKUS SCHREIBER/AP PHOTO

Germany is to scrap the controversial lese-majeste law under which one of its most popular comedians faced prosecution for insulting Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish president.

Angela Merkel’s government this week agreed to repeal the law from January 1 next year.

Mrs Merkel came under heavy criticism last year after she agreed to allow the prosecution of Jan Böhmermann for a satirical poem he read out on television mocking Mr Erdogan.

In the poem, he called Mr Erdogan a “goat-f*****” and described him watching child pornography.

Under the lese-majeste law, which dates back to the time of the Kaiser, it is illegal to insult any foreign head of state, and Mr Böhmermann could have faced up to five years in prison.

Prosecutions under the law have to be specifically approved by the German government, and Mrs Merkel was accused of betraying the principle of free speech in order to appease Mr Erdogan and protect the EU’s migrant deal with Turkey.

Jan Boehmermann
Jan Boehmermann, who could have faced five years in jail after mocking Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan CREDIT: BRITTA PEDERSEN/DPA

Prosecutors dropped the case last October after deciding there was no evidence that a crime had been committed.

There was serious dissent in Mrs Merkel’s government over whether to allow the prosecution, and under pressure from her junior coalition partner she announced last April that the law would be scrapped.

Her government has now followed through on that pledge with this week’s announcement that the law will be repealed next year.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan CREDIT: YASIN BULBUL/ REUTERS /PRESIDENTIAL PALACE

“The idea of lese-majeste dates back to a bygone era, it no longer has any place in our criminal law,” Heiko Maas, the justice minister, said. “The law is obsolete and unnecessary.”

The decision to repeal the law will be put to the German parliament later this year, where it is expected to be approved with little opposition.

Profile | Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

President of Turkey

Born:
26 February 1954 (age 62)

From: Rize, north-east Turkey
Married to: Emine Erdogan since 1978. They have four children; two girls, two boys
Previous career: Semi-professional footballer

Who is he?

Recep Tayyip Erdogan is Turkey’s first directly elected president and former prime minister. He is also the founder of the most successful Turkish party in the 21st century.

Political career

1994: Mr Erdogan had his first taste of power when elected mayor of Istanbul – the first Islamist in the role
1997: Served four months of a 10 month sentence for inciting religious hatred after publicly reading a poem by Ottoman Islamist poet Ziya Gőkalp
2001: Co-founded Turkey’s current largest party, the Justice and Development Party (AKP)
2002 – 2014: Served as Turkey’s prime minister, winning three elections, and only resigned due to party rules which forbade him from leading the party for more than three terms
2014: Elected president, with 52 per cent of the vote
2016: On 15 July, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım confirmed a coup d’état attempt by Turkish military servicemen. Mr Erdogan, on holiday at the time, urged Turkish people to take to the streets to reject the coup

Controversy

Around 2,000 people, including teenage schoolchildren, have been prosecuted for insulting the president and journalists have also been put on trial since he came to office in 2014.

As prime minister, he sanctioned brutal state crackdown on mass protests in Istanbul, focused on Gezi Park in the summer of 2013.

THE TELEGRAPH