Germany’s Justice Minister Heiko Maas announced today that the country’s cabinet moved to abolish their law banning citizens from insulting foreign heads of state. Calling the law “outdated and unnecessary,” Minister Maas says it’ll be removed from their lawbooks by the end of the year. DW reports:
Maas said heads of state and government would still be able to defend themselves against slander and defamation "but no more or less so than any other person."
Insulted foreign leaders will still be able to pursue their own libel and defamation cases. The main difference between the laws was the extent of the sentence, insulting a political leader could carry up to three years in jail while ordinary libel or slander can carry a one-year jail sentence or a fine.
The abolishment of the law comes almost a year after Chancellor Angel Merkel publicly promised to repeal it. This is definitely just in time — Trump is extremely unpopular in Europe. A Pew Research Center survey of European countries including Germany found that only 9% believed he would “do the right thing” in world affairs, compared to 59% for Hillary Clinton and 77% for former President Obama.