German court rejects appeal by Turkish president in Springer case

BERLIN – Reuters

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A German appeals court said June 21 that it had rejected an appeal filed by Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan after a lower court refused to grant him an injunction against the CEO of German publisher Axel Springer. 
Erdoğan had sought a preliminary injunction to prevent Mathias Doepfner from repeating a derogatory term about the Turkish leader after he publicly expressed support for a crude poem about Erdoğan read by comedian Jan Boehmermann on German television in March. 

The court upheld the May ruling from the lower court, saying the comments by Doepfner were protected under German freedom of speech laws.