Today it was revealed that Merkel agreed to prosecute a poet who publicly offended turkish President Erdogan, suggesting among other things that “he has fellatio with a thousand sheep before he goes to sleep”. The German natives are enraged, fearing a limitation of the freedom of speech. But then, listening to Merkels announcement (in German) I realised she is actually smarter than most give her credit for. Let me explain.
Today it was revealed that Merkel agreed to prosecute a poet who publicly offended turkish President Erdogan, suggesting among other things that “he has fellatio with a thousand sheep before he goes to sleep”. The German natives are enraged, fearing a limitation of the freedom of speech. But then, listening to Merkels announcement (in German) I realised she is actually smarter than most give her credit for. Let me explain.
In every modern state, Germany included, there is a separation between the three pillars of law: executive, legislature and judiciary. Merkel is part of the executive, which means she has no involvement in the judiciary and therefore no right to judge those who break the law. By deciding to have the poet prosecuted, rather than judging him herself, she upholds the division between the three pillars of law. After all, not prosecuting would imply that the poet did not break the law.
By leaving the judgement about the poet to the department of justice she also wriggles herself nicely out of a political impasse with Erdogan: next time they talk about the refugee crisis, Erdogan can’t says she didn’t do anything for him. And even if the poet eventually walks free (my prediction) Merkel can say to an undoubtedly enraged Erdogan: it wasn’t me, I had him prosecuted, but as a head of state I cannot influence judges. They can then continue their negotiations about the refugee crisis, hopefully without this issue standing between them. In other words: by prosecuting Boehmermann she eliminates him from the equation and, hopefully, prevents his poem from having a negative impact on the negotiations.
It’s important to mention that, just because the poet will be prosecuted, doesn’t mean he is guilty! On the contrary: as in every civilized judicial system, the accused is innocent until proven guilty. His prosecution as such is no more an infringement on the freedom of speech than the case against the dutch politician Geert Wilders, who voiced a desire for less Moroccans in his country.
When the poet will be acquitted it will be a bigger victory for freedom of speech than if Merkel would have prevented the prosecution. And a bigger slap in the face of Erdogan.
Last but not least, it is worth noting that Merkel has voiced the intention to scrap the offending paragraph from the German penal code. This is her way to say, between the lines, that Erdogan should get a life.
Postscriptum: as expected, Böhmermann was acquitted