Lawyers for German comic, Erdogan argue in court over poem

BERLIN — Lawyers for Turkey’s president and a German television comedian have argued in a Hamburg court over whether the comic should be banned from repeating a crude poem he wrote about the Turkish leader.

Comic Jan Boehmermann recited his ditty on German public television earlier this year after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was angered by another broadcast outlet’s satirical song.

Boehmermann’s poem described Erdogan as “stupid, cowardly and uptight” before descending into crude sexual references.

In May, the Hamburg court issued an injunction ordering Boehmermann not to repeat most of the poem. Erdogan’s lawyers want the prohibition extended to the whole poem.