An İstanbul regional court ruled 11 months and 20 days in prison for Turkish singer and actress Zuhal Olcay for allegedly insulting Turkish Islamist President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and postponed the sentence on Thursday.
The higher court first revoked the decision to sentence Olcay to 10 months in jail, ruled previously by the 46th Criminal Court of Peace, and increased the sentence to one year and two months before reducing the sentence over good behaviour, according to a report by Hurriyet Daily News.
The report said that despite Olcay’s calls for abatement or a fine instead of a prison sentence, she received the jail term as the court ruled she had “purposefully insulted the president.” The performer’s jail sentence was postponed and Olcay was subjected to one year and six months of judicial probation.
A lawsuit was filed against Olcay for “insulting” Erdoğan during a concert last year, with the prosecutor seeking a four-year prison sentence for the singer.
The indictment prepared by the İstanbul Chief Prosecutor’s Office said a citizen told police Olcay had made an insulting hand gesture about Erdoğan during a concert in the Kadıköy district of İstanbul on Aug. 5, 2016. An investigation was subsequently launched and footage from the concert was examined, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency reported on Dec. 12, 2017.
Olcay was also accused of revising lyrics to the song “Boş Vermişim Dünyayı” (I Let Go of the World) to criticize Erdoğan, devising a hand-gesture to accompany the melody. According to the footage, the revised lyrics say: “Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, it’s all empty, it’s all a lie. Life will end one day and you’ll say ‘I had a dream.’”
In her testimony, Olcay reportedly said she revised the lyrics because the president’s name fit the rhyme scheme and she “did not have any ulterior or insulting motive.” The singer also said the hand gesture had targeted an audience member in the front row after they had made a negative comment.
The post İstanbul court upholds jail term for Turkish actress over allegedly insulting Erdoğan appeared first on Stockholm Center for Freedom.
from Stockholm Center for Freedom https://stockholmcf.org/istanbul-court-upholds-jail-term-for-turkish-actress-over-allegedly-insulting-erdogan/
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