suddenly that person is playing with the fate of the rest of Germany while also violating a person's dignity.
Is it viewed as a bug or as a feature that a normal citizen can, in the framework of this thinking here, anoint themselves a kind of 'ambassador' for Germany and potentially have real foreign policy and diplomatic impact? And by the way, if that be so, would it not be reasonable to lodge a flurry of protests with the Erdogan's government in response to whatever random hooligans on the streets of Izmir say about Germany or Merkel?
Perhaps a reasonable compromise would be to hold highly conspicuous or famous people making statements in broadcast media to a different standard than ordinary citizens who merely face the chance of accidentally ending up on camera.
Keep in mind, it's not automatically criminal. The insulted person must go to the effort of actually filing a lawsuit to have anything happen, and it's unlikely for that to happen over some random dude talking on the street. The only reason Böhmermann is getting any attention is because he did manage to make it on national TV with this.
As for the questions: With or without the law, someone insulting a foreign dignitary on national TV can have serious diplomatic effects. It's just reality.
As for the second question: In two parts: Insulting the country is not covered by the german law, only direct persons. Further, if Merkel were insulted by whatever a turkish citizen is saying and Turkey has a law allowing her to sue those, then she could do it. If there isn't such a law she'd need to find other ways to deal with her anger if she has any such.
Is it viewed as a bug or as a feature that a normal citizen can, in the framework of this thinking here, anoint themselves a kind of 'ambassador' for Germany and potentially have real foreign policy and diplomatic impact? And by the way, if that be so, would it not be reasonable to lodge a flurry of protests with the Erdogan's government in response to whatever random hooligans on the streets of Izmir say about Germany or Merkel?
Perhaps a reasonable compromise would be to hold highly conspicuous or famous people making statements in broadcast media to a different standard than ordinary citizens who merely face the chance of accidentally ending up on camera.