Turkey: Students detained for insulting the president
Four students from the Middle East Technical University (ODTÜ) in Turkey have been detained over a banner containing caricatures of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The students could face up to four years in prison for ‘insulting the president’.
UA: 131/18 Index: EUR 44/8790/2018 Turkey Date: 16 July 2018
URGENT ACTION
STUDENTS DETAINED FOR INSULTING THE PRESIDENT
Four students from the Middle East Technical University (ODTÜ) in Turkey have been
detained over a banner containing caricatures of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The
students could face up to four years in prison for ‘insulting the president’.
On 7 July, three Middle East Technical University (ODTÜ) students were arrested on suspicion of having
‘insulted’ the President of Turkey during the previous day’s graduation ceremony. The students had unfurled a
banner containing caricatures of the Turkish President during the students’ parade that traditionally takes place as
part of ODTÜ’s annual graduation ceremony. A fourth student, who reportedly helped the others transport the
banner to the stadium where the graduation ceremony took place, and a shop owner, who reportedly printed the
offending banner, were taken in for police questioning the following day on 8 July.
The students were held in police custody without charge until the early hours of 11 July, when the Ankara Criminal
Court of Peace No. 4, at approximately 2:30am, ordered that they be remanded in prison pending trial for ‘insulting
the president’ under Article 299/1 of the Turkish Penal Code. The students face between one and four years in
prison if prosecuted and found guilty. The shop owner taken into questioning alongside the fourth student was
conditionally released shortly after being questioned.
The offending banner displayed a caricature initially published in the satirical magazine Penguen in 2005. This
caricature depicted various animals with the face of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan superimposed on their
heads. The words ‘Now it’s the Tayyips’ Kingdom’ were written above the image, an allusion to the President’s
powers under the new presidential system. The Penguen caricature was the subject of a civil defamation suit by
President Erdoğan in 2005. The magazine was eventually cleared of all wrongdoing by the Turkish courts, which
held that the image was protected by the right to freedom of expression and the right to engage in criticism of
politicians.
Please write immediately in English, Turkish or your own language calling on the authorities to:
Release the four students immediately and unconditionally and drop all charges against them;
Repeal Articles 299 (‘insulting the president’) and 125 (‘criminal defamation’) of the Turkish Penal Code;
Ensure full respect and protection of the right to freedom of expression in Turkey.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 27 AUGUST 2018 TO:
Minister of Justice
Abdulhamit Gül
Ministry of Justice
Adalet Bakanlığı
06659 Ankara
Turkey
Fax: +90 (0) 312 419 33 70
Email: ozelkalem@adalet.gov.tr
Salutation: Dear Minister
Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country.,
URGENT ACTION
STUDENTS DETAINED FOR INSULTING THE PRESIDENT
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The Penguen caricature displayed on the students’ banners was originally printed in 2005 in response to a court ruling ordering
the caricaturist Musa Kart to pay damages to Erdoğan for superimposing the then prime minister’s head on a cat in one of the
artist’s published cartoons. Erdoğan, in turn, brought a civil defamation suit against Penguen for their caricature, stating,
“Caricaturing the prime minister as an animal is not a [fundamental] freedom.” The ruling against Kart was overturned on appeal
later in 2006 while the case against Penguen was quickly dismissed.
The four students’ detentions have occurred within a context of a crackdown on the right to freedom of expression and
increasing intolerance of dissenting viewpoints and forms of expression in Turkey. Since the July 2016 coup attempt, hundreds
of journalists have been prosecuted and over 150 journalists and other media workers are currently in prison in Turkey. Human
rights defenders, civil society actors, and others have faced investigation, detention and conviction for expressing legitimate
dissenting views.
Defamation and ‘insulting the president’ are criminal offences under the Turkish Penal Code. The United Nations Special
Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression has repeatedly called for the
decriminalisation of defamation and the repeal of lèse-majesté laws across the world. Criticism of the authrorities constitutes
protected speech under the European Convention of Human Rights according to various rulings by the European Court of
Human Rights in Strasbourg.
Gender m/f: Two males, two females.
UA: 131/18 Index: EUR 44/8790/2018 Issue Date: 16 July 2018