This Ongoing War: A Blog: 15-May-11: Speaking out against judicial double-talk

Sunday, May 15, 2011

15-May-11: Speaking out against judicial double-talk

Merkel; Uthmann; Bin Laden

The permanent termination of Osama Bin Laden's career as a terrorist produced some disturbing responses but none quite as astonishing as that of a German judge, Heinz Uthmann.

Der Spiegel quoting Friday's edition of the Hamburger Morgenpost daily newspaper says he filed a criminal complaint against the chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, in the past few days. The background is in this extract from a Christian Science Monitor report:

"“I am pleased that we managed to kill bin Laden.” That was German Chancellor Angela Merkel's response to a reporter's question about her reaction to Osama bin Laden's death. It wasn't a unique sentiment. Leaders around the world said the same thing. But criticism over Mrs. Merkel's comments in Germany is almost overshadowing news of the raid that killed Mr. bin Laden."

The Hamburger judge with too much time on his hands has come to the conclusion that the chancellor's statement was illegal, quoting section 140 of the German Criminal Code which forbids "rewarding and approving" of crimes. Spiegel says the judge accuses Merkel of having endorsed a homicide, a violation that in principle is punishable by up to three years' imprisonment or a fine.

We mention the background so that we can give a little well-deserved publicity to a statement released tonight by the International Alliance Against Terrorism (Alliance Internationale Contre le Terrorisme):

We are all Angela Merkel!
The German chancellor reacted in a similar manner to President Barak Obama and other Western leaders: she expressed her satisfaction at the news of the death of Bin Laden. Her reaction was human and motivated by a sense of solidarity with the victims.
The reactions by sections of the media, by politicians and by individuals condemning the Chancellor's reaction are strange and bigoted. Hypocritical claims have been put forward, without a shred of evidence behind them, alleging that Bin Laden was the victim of an execution. And now, astonishingly, a Hamburg judge, Heinz Uthmann, has filed a criminal complaint against Chancellor Angela Merkel, accusing her of abetting a crime!
We address this judge and say to him: Rather than the death of Bin Laden, what outrages us is the impunity of terrorist organizations who target civilians and have killed European citizens by means of terror bomb attacks, "suicide" bombings, kidnapping and murder. Your duty as a judge is to bring the terror organizations and their leaders to account !"

The spokesperson for the International Alliance Against Terrorism is Huguette Chomski Magnis (email: alliance.against.terrorism@gmail.com), phone +33.6.66.26.42.23. A German group called NzT Nein zum Terrorismus ("No to Terrorism") has created a Facebook page to galvanize opposition to Judge Uthmann's attack on Mrs Merkel.

UPDATE 15-May-11: There's an online petition at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/weareallangelamerkel/
We hope you will consider showing your repugnance at the actions of the judge by signing it.

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