Comedian sentenced to 19 months in prison in Turkey for insulting Erdoğan — Deutsche Welle

In Turkey, a court in Istanbul sentenced comedian Deniz Göktaş to 19 months in prison for insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and religious values during a stand-up performance. The court also ordered his release pending judicial review of the case and an appeal, after which the verdict must be finally upheld, Deutsche Welle English reports.

The 32-year-old Göktaş was arrested on July 3, about a week after a video of his show “Dead Sea” was published on YouTube. The video has been viewed nearly 9 million times, while short clips from the performance quickly spread on the social network X.

Charges and court ruling

Prosecutors charged the comedian with insulting Erdoğan, inciting hatred and hostility through jokes about Islam, as well as glorifying crime and criminals. The latter count concerned a joke about the organized crime family Daltons.

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The court found Göktaş guilty on two of the three counts. The charge of inciting hatred and hostility was reclassified as insulting religious values, while the allegation of glorifying crime was dismissed. The comedian spent nearly three months in custody, and this time is to be credited should the sentence actually be enforced.

The comedian’s position

During the hearing, Göktaş did not deny the content of his performance but stated that his jokes did not constitute a crime. Prosecutors, in particular, considered insulting two instances in which he called Erdoğan a dictator. The comedian insisted that this was a political characterization rather than an insult and that the president should be open to satire.

According to the Turkish non-governmental organization Media and Law Studies Association, prosecutors referred to more than 500 complaints seeking the performer’s prosecution over his show. One of the institutions that reported the performance was the state religious institution Diyanet. Erdoğan was the sole complainant in the case.