Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has all but crushed domestic criticism of his regime by taking over newspapers, jailing journalists and bringing slander cases against over 1,800 people. Now he is trying to export his repression by demanding that Germany prosecute a comedian who read an insulting poem about the Turkish strongman on television.

At issue is a March 31 stunt by Jan Böhmermann, who said he wanted to find the line between satire, which is protected by German law, and “abusive criticism” of a foreign leader, which, regrettably, is not. He then read a poem that called Erdogan an obscene name.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been a defender of free expression, but an anachronistic law allows foreign leaders to launch slander cases against German critics.

What’s more, Merkel just struck a deal with Erdogan to return Syrian refugees arriving in Europe to Turkey, in exchange for some $6 billion in European Union aid and other concessions. In their desperate pursuit of this bargain, EU leaders have muffled their objections to Erdogan’s excesses.

Last week Merkel issued a statement calling Böhmermann’s poem “deliberately offending.” When that didn’t satisfy Erdogan, it was announced that her government is “carefully reviewing” his request for prosecution.

We’d like to believe that Merkel’s rejection of any prosecution of Böhmermann is a foregone conclusion. Even so, her waffling is likely to encourage Erdogan’s and other regimes that are trying to suppress critical speech outside their borders as well as within.

Copy the Story Link