German Journalists Slam Berlin for Sanctioning Erdogan’s Anti-Satirist

BERLIN (Sputnik) — The German Federation of Journalists (DJV) condemned on Friday the decision of Chancellor Angela Merkel to approve criminal proceedings against a German comedian for mocking Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Earlier in the day, Berlin sanctioned the launch of investigation against German comedian Jan Boehmermann over a controversial obscene poem that the satirist recited on German TV targeting the Turkish leader.

"The German Federation of Journalists criticized the statement by Chancellor Angela Merkel dated this Friday on the request of the Turkish government to prosecute the satirist Jan Böhmermann," the DJV statement reads.

The organization added that Merkel’s decision was unnecessary, since Erdogan had already filed a lawsuit against the TV host with the prosecutor of the German city of Mainz.

The journalists association welcomed the German government’s plan to abolish the paragraph 103 in Germany’s Criminal Code, which forbids insulting foreign government institutions and officials.