Because it's against GERMAN law

A comedian could be jailed for insulting Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

However it is not in Turkey Jan Böhmermann faces prosecution, but Germany, where free speech protections have one significant restriction: it is illegal to insult a foreign leader.

Böhmermann has deliberately provoked the legal action with an offensive poem, telling viewers of his satirical TV show Neo Magazin Royale that 'what I’m about to read is not allowed. If it were to be read in public - that would be forbidden in Germany.'

Now prosecutors in the German city of Mainz, where broadcaster ZDF is based, have confirmed that the poem could be a illegal, and are consider whether to launch criminal proceedings.

If found guilty,Böhmermann could be jailed for five years.

In the sketch, the comedian is sitting in front of the Turkish flag and a portrait of Erdogan. He claims that the president has sex with goats and sheep and loves to 'repress minorities, kick Kurds and beat Christians while watching child porn'.

It was a response to an earlier skit in which the comedian targeted Erdogan's spending excesses and crackdown on civil liberties.That provoked Turkish officials to summon Germany's ambassador to protest.

Angela Merkel has slammed the poem as 'deliberately offensive' and reportedly discussed the matter with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in an attempt to avoid a diplomatic incident. For Böhmermann to face legal action, the Turkish government will have to make an official complaint.

German magazine Der Spiegel last month withdrew its Istanbul correspondent amid a Turkish clampdown on critical media. 'Journalists are being arrested, there are absurd court trials against media representatives, and newsrooms are being placed under state control,' the German journalists' union said at the time.

Turkey is at the forefront of the refugee crisis, with EU nations making concessions to the nation in return for helping stem the tide of asylum-seekers.

Published: 7 Apr 2016