Arested because of reading a not censored poem in public
May 27, 2009 – 9:15 amAt May the 23rd a group of political activist gathered in front of the main government building to read a poem. This poem is by no means illegal. It’s not censored by any state organ yet and available in any bookshop throughout the country.
The activists were standing in front of the building and wanted to start reading the poem, when a policeman rushed towards them and stopped them to ask, what they are doing. They explained and the policeman asked his superiors by radio if it is an acceptable action. Things seemed to be right and the group got the permission to read the historic poem in public.
Once they finished reading a group of policemen rushed towards the political activists and wanted to arrest them. The reason given: “The poem included opinion-content” They were dumbfounded. Is it really illegal to have an opinion here? So they told the policemen, that they got the permission before. The policemen were confused now and checked back with the headquarter to be sure. The superiors reported back, that the activists can be arrested.
It’s a common theme for dictatorships, that the police shows signs of helplessness when faced with political action. They are repressive to be sure no unwanted political message reaches the public.
Where do You think the above happened? Some of my readers may guess now, this was China, as this is a China blog. But it happened in a different country, it happened in Germany. The group are members of the legal political party Political Beauty. They read the poem To The Beauty (pdf, German). I was dumbfounded when I read that first, but it seems to be true. Read the original story here (in German, Heise). Germany and China become more and more equal. Before I had been asked: “Can You live in a country like China, where people get arrested for nothing?” Well, now I can ask the same thing back and it doesn’t make a difference after all to live here or in China.
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6 Responses to “Arested because of reading a not censored poem in public”
I am usually critical of Germany, but that’s really a bit over the top. One case like that and you put Germany on the same level than China? The fact that you can read about this story makes a difference. The fact that these people can fight for their release with legal support, makes a difference. The fact that noone from the government can come and ban the media from reporting this story, makes a difference. You know, there’s no perfect country, you have cases like that in all democracies. The difference between them and China is that people in the West go on the streets and protest, groups go and sue the government, things change. You have opposition who can criticize the government, the media, NGOs, civil rights groups. What about China? It’s all very simple: It’s a big difference between a single accident and systematic encroachment on someone’s rights. You can’t seriously compare Germanie’s democracy and freedom with the systematic censorship of movies, no freedom of speech and no freedom of press in China. Go in Berlin down the street and say: Angela Merkel is an asshole and do the same in Beijing and shout: Hu jin Tao is an asshole. You’ll easily see and feel the difference in the two systems. ^^
By Nino on May 27, 2009
Sure Nino, I do know the difference. The point is Germany is becoming a more and more repressive, authoritarian society. This one is so over the top and has similarities to China, that I think it makes a nice post. It is indeed a single case, but we have more and more single cases here in Germany, which saddens me a bit. There is a difference between the two systems, but this distance has been bigger some years ago.
By Junjie on May 27, 2009
A bigger problem in Germany in my opinion is the increase of neo-nazi crime. That’s concerning. I’m watching German TV a lot and have never had the feeling that German system and society is becoming repressive. Especially not now around the 60th anni of the constitution. If I was German, I couldn’t draw a comparison with China like that. But hey, everyone is entitled to his opinion
By Nino on May 27, 2009
This feels more like a police blunder than a serious event. The fact that they informed the police of what they were doing, and what they would be reading, ahead of time and got permission, and were arrested afterward makes it seem like a mistake on the park of the police. I’m pretty sure that when this goes to court, the charges will be dismissed.
On the other hand, in China these poor bastards would probably rot in prison for 20 years at a minimum, prior permission or not. There’s really no comparing Germany and China in terms of governmental policies. Not by a long-shot.
You did give me a reason to look for a blog about Germany though. I miss kinder uberschlagen (spelling?) and the castles. I lived there for four years. Ya, I know, weird to miss the candy right? But it’s not available in most other places I’ve lived since then.
By Bradley on May 27, 2009
Unfortunately, ideas on the far right and far left both benefit from the world economic crisis. But I can’t say there has been an unusual increase in neo-nazi crimes.
Our current government has really empowered police during this legislative period in terms of surveillance and in the internet domain. Famous are the words of our minister of inner afairs, Schäuble, defending increasing surveillance: “Those who didn’t do any bad, don’t need to be afraid.”
By Junjie on May 27, 2009
Bradley,
do You mean Kinderüberraschung?
http://www.kinderueberraschung.de/
By Junjie on May 27, 2009