Turkish Cartoonist Pehlevan Released
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A Turkish court has ordered the release of LeMan satirical magazine cartoonist Doğan Pehlevan under judicial supervision in a case that had kept him behind bars since July on charges of insulting the president, the Cumhuriyet daily reported.
Last Friday an İstanbul court ordered Pehlevan’s release pending trial on the charges of “inciting hatred and enmity,” but he remained jailed on a separate charge of insulting President Erdoğan.
He appeared before a judge again on Tuesday, when prosecutors requested his release under judicial supervision. The court granted the request, allowing him to leave prison.
[LeMan] said the illustration was a political critique of Israel’s bombing of Gaza, not a depiction of religious figures. Its staff has vigorously denied any link between an illustration published in the magazine and Islam’s Prophet Muhammad.
From The Stockholm Center for Freedom:
Following the online backlash in late June, a group attacked the magazine’s İstanbul office. No action was taken against the assailants, but authorities opened an investigation into the magazine instead.
Separately, a court ordered the confiscation of LeMan’s June 26 issue and imposed a nationwide ban on access to the magazine’s website and X account.
The magazine said the illustration was a political critique of Israel’s bombing of Gaza, not a depiction of religious figures. Its staff has vigorously denied any link between an illustration published in the magazine and Islam’s Prophet Muhammad.
On July 2 Pehlevan, managing editor Zafer Aknar, graphic designer Cebrail Okçu and business manager Ali Yavuz were arrested. A detention warrant was later issued for editor-in-chief Aslan Özdemir, who was abroad.
Four of the detainees, Aknar, Özdemir, Okçu and Yavuz, were released on September 26. Pehlevan remained imprisoned because of the separate insult case.
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