Turkey puts stand-up comedian on trial over insulting Erdoğan, faces up to 12 years

A trial has begun in Istanbul against stand-up comedian Deniz Göktaş, who faces three separate charges over remarks he made during a performance at the Harbiye theatre. The comedian has already spent 88 days in pretrial detention and could face up to 12 years and two months behind bars.

The indictment lists "public incitement to hatred and enmity," "insulting the president" and "glorifying crimes and criminals." Prosecutors argue that Göktaş's remarks about President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan went beyond the bounds of criticism and were capable of harming the president's honor, dignity and reputation in the eyes of the public.

Remarks about the Quran and women

The indictment also states that the comedian's comments about the Quran, Islam's holy book, openly incited hatred and enmity between population groups holding different religious beliefs. It further claims his words undermined public order, caused division and polarization, and insulted women.

Comedian denies the charges

In a statement to police before his arrest, Göktaş denied all the accusations, saying he had been performing the same show in cities across Turkey for about three years, that it had been seen by more than 100,000 spectators, and that none of them had complained about the part in question. He also denied intending to demean the president, explaining that the word "dictator" is a political term frequently discussed in public, similar to "democrat" or "autocrat."

An Istanbul court ordered the comedian's arrest in July after he was detained at the city's main airport over a performance that had gathered 9.4 million views on YouTube.