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by rmk2 3579 days ago
There is nothing racism-specific to that law (and how could there be, because then the law would have to define race). The same law applies whether Erdogan, Mugabe, Kim Yong Un, Theresa May or Christian Kern gets insulted; the problem is that it allows a foreign (as in non-domestic) head of state -- a public figure by definition -- to request prosecution in a case that might very well touch upon, if not outright collide with, §5 GG.
2 comments

You can insult Theresa May as much as you like, you won't charged under this law - as long as May is not in Germany when you do so.

The law only universally applies to Heads of States, not Heads of Governments.

You can be charged under different laws, though (§ 185 - § 200 StGB [0]). There is a higher threshold of what public figures have to tolerate, still like everybody else, foreign politicians can sue you under these paragraphs for insulting them.

[0] https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_stgb/englisch_st...

Ah, sorry, I wasn't familiar with the above law, I was more talking about the incident in France, but was off-topic in replying to you.