Turkey jails comedian, rapper over joke deemed offensive to Islam

Turkey jailed two men precocious connected Tuesday pending trial aft prosecutors said their online amusement included a gag referencing a hadith oregon teaching of the Prophet Muhammad, which they allege could incite spiritual hatred.

An Istanbul tribunal ordered the detention of YouTuber Bogac Soydemir, big of the programme “Soguk Savas,” and his impermanent Enes Akgunduz, a rapper, aft authorities said the amusement featured a quip astir the hadith “wine is the parent of each evil.”

Prosecutors argued the remark risked stirring hostility connected spiritual grounds.

Both men apologized aft the broadcast and denied wrongdoing when they appeared successful tribunal connected Tuesday.

Soydemir said helium had nary volition of provoking hatred, adding that helium removed the video erstwhile alerted to the contented and apologized connected his κοινωνικά media accounts. He said the remark was a viewer remark helium work connected air, which helium mistook for wordplay.

Akgunduz besides rejected immoderate suggestion of deliberate discourtesy and said their speech had been misinterpreted.

He said the gag was a viewer remark helium work connected air, which helium mistook for a elemental wordplay, and acknowledged helium should person thought much carefully.

The lawsuit follows the jailing of 4 cartoonists from the satirical weekly Leman implicit a cartoon deemed to picture Prophets Muhammad and Moses, which President Tayyip Erdogan described arsenic a “vile provocation.” [Reuters]