Criminal investigation

Merkel allows investigation of Erdoğan satirist

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday she will permit a criminal investigation into the comedian Jan Böhmermann on charges that he insulted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, while promising to overturn the law in question and arguing that artistic freedom was an “elementary” right.

Turkey made a formal request to Germany on Monday to file charges against Böhmermann, who called Erdoğan a “goat-f—-er” in a March 31 broadcast.

Merkel, announcing her decision, said that in the specific case of a paragraph in the German criminal code against insulting representatives or symbols of a foreign state, it was up to the government to grant permission for prosecutors to go ahead. After examination of Turkey’s request by the foreign, justice and interior ministries and her own office, the decision was that “the government will grant permission in this case.”