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Europe
Judge Files Complaint against Merkel over Bin Laden Comments
2011-05-07
A Hamburg judge has filed a criminal complaint against Chancellor Angela Merkel for "endorsing a crime" after she stated she was "glad" that Osama bin Laden was killed by US forces. Meanwhile a new poll reveals that a majority of Germans do not see the terrorist's death as a reason to celebrate.

Schadenfreude, the enjoyment of others' suffering, may be a famously German concept, but it is apparently not a feeling that many Germans aspire to. The political and public fallout following Chancellor Angela Merkel's statement on Monday that she was "glad" Osama bin Laden had been killed was among the most hotly debated topics in the German media this week.

Politicians, including those within her own center-right coalition, said that no death was cause for celebration, and reproved the remark as un-Christian and vengeful.
Perhaps we pacified the Germans just a bit too much after WWII?
But Hamburg judge Heinz Uthmann went even further. He alleges that the chancellor's statement was nothing short of illegal, and filed a criminal complaint against Merkel midweek, the daily Hamburger Morgenpost reported Friday.

"I am a law-abiding citizen and as a judge, sworn to justice and law," the 54-year-old told the paper, adding that Merkel's words were "tacky and undignified."
I didn't realize that being a tacky, undignified politician was a legal offense...
In his two-page document, Uthmann, a judge for 21 years, cites section 140 of the German Criminal Code, which forbids the "rewarding and approving" of crimes. In this case, Merkel endorsed a "homicide," Uthmann claimed. The violation is punishable by up to three years' imprisonment or a fine.

"For the daughter of a Christian pastor, the comment is astonishing and at odds with the values of human dignity, charity and the rule of law," Uthmann told the newspaper.
He's projecting just a touch, isn't he...
While the judge's reaction may seem extreme,
Now that you mention it...
his sentiments are apparently shared by 64 percent of the German population. That was the proportion of Germans who said bin Laden's death was "no reason to rejoice" in a poll published by broadcaster ARD on Friday.

Among respondents who said they identified with Germany's three main opposition parties, an even greater proportion were disgusted with the jubilation over the al-Qaida leader's death. Their views mirror recent comments made by opposition politicians on the issue. But even among supporters of Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) and their junior coalition partners, the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP), barely half of those polled said they empathized with Merkel's view.

The chancellor has declined to withdraw her statement, but the outcry prompted government press spokesman Steffen Seibert to defend her on Thursday. "The reason for her happiness was the thought that this man would no longer pose any danger," he said, adding that her statement had been reported out of context.

Seibert added that Merkel "appreciates that those who heard only this sentence ... might have found the combination of the words 'death' and 'glad' in one phrase to be inappropriate."
Posted by:Steve White

#14  Maybe Merkel should propose a new German holiday for May 1st; it should sell a lot of beer in the U.S.
Posted by: JohnQC   2011-05-07 16:20  

#13  These people would have rallied to make sure Bin Laden got three nice hots, a cot and a life time supply of Qurans if Bin Laden had been taken alive. Forget all the murder and mahem he is responsible for.
Posted by: Lionel Snager1307   2011-05-07 16:12  

#12  German law can be bizarre. Remember how Gerhard Schröder successfully sued several newspapers for libel because they published that he dyed his hair?

(N.B.: I have long been suspicious that Reagan suffered from lead poisoning after years of using Grecian Formula, which has lead acetate as its active ingredient. Canada and Europe previously banned the product because of its use of lead. However the formula has now been changed to use bismuth citrate for those countries.)
Posted by: Anonymoose   2011-05-07 11:43  

#11  Miau?
Posted by: Redneck Jim   2011-05-07 10:59  

#10  How do you say, "meow" in German?
Posted by: de Medici3489   2011-05-07 09:51  

#9  PUBLISHED German popular opinion is barely in touch with reality

Much like in America, then?

The Speigel journalist is mistaken about Schadenfreude, though. Schadenfreude is a small emotion, for private relationships. Triumph over a self-declared enemy of the nation is something else altogether... and it's sadly typical that a journalist would attempt to conflate the two.
Posted by: trailing wife   2011-05-07 08:42  

#8  I wonder if had Germany had been attackeded on the same scale as the U.S. On 9/11, the judgess might have viewed OBL's death and Ms. Merkel's statement differently?
Posted by: Delphi   2011-05-07 08:28  

#7  The German's have never forgiven the American's for losing them 2 world wars.
Posted by: phil_b   2011-05-07 04:58  

#6  Perhaps we pacified the Germans just a bit too much after WWII?

Just sidle to one and whisper Israel, and you'll see how peaceful they are.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2011-05-07 02:52  

#5  Chancellor Angela Merkel is the only real good thing Germans have done yet in this century. If you have a long history memory - Germany started with that A-hole profiteer off of the oil for food scam with UN guy and that other mess with their "contractors" selling equipment.

Germany is going downhill fast and forgetting that "they ain't all that" and a bag o chips.

Two world wars they have brought us and I am not counting the previous periods of being stupid but brutal Hunns, with Saxtons and the rest.

Your people better get Judges like this under control (FIRED) and educate your populace profusely because I do not like what I see.

This chump OBL was personally involved with killing your Citizens. Heck, yesterday - the 74th anniversary of the Hindenberg disaster, you had to run 256 of them off of a train for this very guy your "Justice" protects.

Any triumph of good over evil is cause celebre'.
Polly vou happy?
Sprecken zie Justice?
Dast is good, no? Ja, Ja!
Posted by: newc   2011-05-07 01:37  

#4  What's with the daughter of a pastor argument. Germany is home of the 30yrs war. Luther would have never held his children to the standard these guys want. Hell... Luther would have said the same or worse then Merkel.

Proof was King of Sweden and the Pope's armies dis-engaging so that Vienna could be defended from the Turks.
Posted by: Water Modem   2011-05-07 01:13  

#3  Where can the unpublished stuff be found? Is mentioning it a criminal offense in Germany?
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418   2011-05-07 00:59  

#2  PUBLISHED German popular opinion is barely in touch with reality
Posted by: European Conservative   2011-05-07 00:25  

#1   Not just any complaint, but a 'criminal complaint!'. An article linked by the original quoted a German saying But it was only a small number of Americans who demonstrated their feelings so openly [after OBL's death], just as in 2001 it was only a few Muslims who were happy about the thousands who were killed in the terror attacks
German popular opinion is barely in touch with reality on so many levels. Never tell Germans that old Texas proverb about 'some people need killin', or else Deutsche Köpfe könnten explodieren. I suppose there are places where opinion is even farther from reality, as mentioned by Blackfive: When I was in Iraq, there was a widely held belief that VBIEDs were manufactured on our US military base in Ramadi, and that the guys with beards (like me) were actually Israeli agents driving in HMMVs with the Star of David on the door.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418   2011-05-07 00:15  

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