Turkish comedian on trial for insulting President Erdogan during show

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A popular Turkish comedian went on trial on Monday for allegedly insulting President Recep Erdogan and other offences during a stand-up performance, offering a quick-witted defence that had much of the courtroom in stitches.

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Deniz Goktas, a 32-year-old comedian known for his dry wit and political satire, was arrested by police on July 3, a week after a YouTube video of his “Dead Sea” show went viral with nine million views.

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He is facing charges of insulting Erdogan, incitement to public hatred and praising crime and criminals. If convicted, he could face around a decade behind bars, according to Turkish media calculations.

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As the hearing opened at Caglayan courthouse, Goktas — who has spent 88 days in custody — took to the stand to weave a defence rich in political satire, with witty observations frequently had the courtroom in fits of laughter.

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“Erdogan should be open to the art of satire,” he said, denying the charges against him and saying none of Turkey’s most famous comedians or political satirists had been prosecuted in the past.

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“In their time, these kinds of criticisms were received much more positively… by society and those in power than they are today,” he said, denying there was any criminal element in the jokes he had made.

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“The laws protecting freedom of expression have not changed since that time. They are still the same. But today, a comedian is sitting in a cell.

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“The joke hasn’t changed. What has changed is the increasingly fragile leadership that can no longer tolerate the joke.”

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Humour, he said, was a centuries-old part of Turkish culture but there would be “no place for censorship, bans or detention when it comes to artists on the stage”, he said.

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Wrapping up his defence, he rejected the charges against him and asked to be acquitted and released.

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“There is no risk of me fleeing. I came back to Turkey from abroad in the first place. Three months have been taken away from my life.

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“I quit smoking, so I’ll add three months to the end of my life anyway,” he said, drawing laughter and loud applause as he left the stand.

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Goktas’s arrest was the latest in a widening crackdown on anyone seen as critical of Turkey’s Islamo-conservative government or its values.

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The crackdown has netted hundreds of people, including politicians, artists, musicians, journalists and LGBTQ activists.

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Among the audience were several comedians from Istanbul’s TuzBiber comedy club — where Goktas reportedly began his career in 2019 — alongside observers from the Dutch and US embassies.

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Outside in the pouring rain, around 50 protesters with umbrellas gathered outside Istanbul’s Caglayan courthouse under the watch of several dozen police officers, chanting: “Denis Goktas is not alone!”, an AFP correspondent saw.

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“I’m outraged that Deniz Goktas is being held in a well-type cell just because he did his job,” one angry retiree called Nesrin Demirkan told AFP, referring to a tiny cell with no daylight that creates the sensation of being inside a deep well.

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The comedian is being held at Karatepe high-security prison, about 120 kilometres (75 miles) west of Istanbul.

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Turkish media said the Ankara-born comedian began his career at TuzBiber in Istanbul and has gone on to perform at venues across Europe and the United States.

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AFP

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