德国喜剧演员因侮辱土耳其总统可能面临牢狱之灾

AS IT IS 2016-04-17 German Comedian¹ May Face Prison for Insulting Turkish President 德国喜剧演员因侮辱土耳其总统可能面临牢狱之灾

A German comedian may face up to three years in prison for insulting the president of Turkey.

German Chancellor² Angela Merkel said Friday that her government will accept a request for legal action against comedian Jan Bohmermann.

Bohmermann, 35, is the host of the popular German television show "Neo Magazin Royale."

During part of the March 31 episode of the show, he stood in front of a Turkish flag and a picture of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Bohmermann then read a poem full of profanity and criticism of Erdogan.

The poem included sexual comments and suggestions that Erdogan mistreated Christian³ and Kurdish minorities. The comedian also called the Turkish president a "professional idiot."

Bohmermann said he was trying to be offensive.

ZDF is a government-owned public television broadcaster based in Mainz, Germany. ZDF broadcasts the show "New Magazin Royale."

A day after Bohmermann read the poem, the broadcaster took the episode offline. ZDF then brought the episode back without the poem 24 hours later.

But this did not stop the Turkish president from taking action. The Turkish embassy filed a complaint against Bohmermann a week after the original broadcast.

This complaint is based on a German law that prevents its citizens from insulting foreign leaders.

The law first appeared in the Prussian legal code of 1794. German lawyer Holger Heinin studied the law in law school. He told Radio Free Europe that the law does not fit today’s society.

"Between 1997 and 2000, there were no more than two convictions annually," he said.

The United States tried to make a complaint against a shop owner in the city of Marburg in 2003. The shop owner called then-President George W. Bush, a "state terrorist." But the German government decided⁴ this did not go against the law.

Michael-Hubertus von Sprenger is the lawyer in Germany representing the Turkish president. He said he is prepared to take this complaint to the highest court.

The conflict over the insulting poem puts Merkel in a difficult position. Millions of migrants have fled from conflict in Syria, Iraq and other Middle Eastern and North African countries.

Merkel and Erdogan agreed in March that Turkey would stop the flow of migrants across the Aegean Sea and into Europe. The agreement also states any migrants who cross the sea and enter Greece after April 4 will be sent back.

Erdogan has a history of reacting strongly to criticism. Since April 2014, when he became president, 1,845 court cases have been made against individuals insulting him.

Two of the top journalists at the Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet are on trial for espionage⁶. Police arrested the two after they published a video in May 2015. The newspaper claimed the video was evidence of the government bringing weapons to Syrian rebels in 2014.

Also, the government took control of Turkey’s biggest newspaper, Today’s Zaman, in March. The government claims the newspaper might have provided money illegally to Fethullah Gulen.

Based in the United States, Gulen is an Islamic religious leader and a major critic of Erdogan. Erdogan claims Gulen is trying to bring down his government.

Bohmermann has not yet gone to trial. But von Sprenger told ZDF he does not think Bohmermann will receive a very strong punishment.

"It will be a punishment that is necessary to get him back on the right path - to produce satire⁷, and not gross insults," he said.

Words in This Story

comedian – n. a person who performs in front of a crowd and makes people laugh by telling jokes or funny stories or by acting⁵ in a way that is funny

host – n. a person who talks to guests on a television or radio show

episode – n. a television show or radio show that is one part of a series

idiot – n. a very stupid or foolish person

offline – adj. not connected to a computer, computer network, a television network or the Internet

conviction(s) – n. the act of proving that a person is guilty of a crime in a court of law

migrant(s) – n. a person who goes from one place to another especially to find work

espionage – n. the things that are done to find out secrets from enemies or competitors

satire – n. humor that shows the weaknesses or bad qualities of a person, government or society

gross – adj. offensive

complaint - n. an official protest

1 comedian   

n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员

参考例句：

• The comedian tickled the crowd with his jokes.喜剧演员的笑话把人们逗乐了。
• The comedian enjoyed great popularity during the 30's.那位喜剧演员在三十年代非常走红。

2 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

3 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

6 espionage   

n.间谍行为，谍报活动

参考例句：

• The authorities have arrested several people suspected of espionage.官方已经逮捕了几个涉嫌从事间谍活动的人。
• Neither was there any hint of espionage in Hanley's early life.汉利的早期生活也毫无进行间谍活动的迹象。

7 satire   

n.讽刺，讽刺文学，讽刺作品

参考例句：

• The movie is a clever satire on the advertising industry.那部影片是关于广告业的一部巧妙的讽刺作品。
• Satire is often a form of protest against injustice.讽刺往往是一种对不公正的抗议形式。