Deniz Göktaş appeared before the judge for the first time today in the case where he is being tried with a request for a prison sentence of up to 12 years regarding the videos he published on virtual media. Making his defense in court, Göktaş said, "My words may be found wrong, unusual or jarring. These can be discussed. However, I do not think this reaches the level of disrespect and humiliation." The hearing prosecutor in his opinion on the merits; He demanded that Deniz Göktaş be punished and released for the crimes of 'publicly insulting the President', 'publicly inciting the public to hatred and hostility' and 'praising the crime and the criminal'.
Deniz Göktaş, who was arrested within the scope of the investigation launched by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office regarding the videos he published on virtual media platforms, with a request for a prison sentence of 2 years, 7 months to 12 years, for the crimes of 'insulting the President', 'inciting and humiliating the public to hatred and hostility' and 'praising the crime and the criminal', appeared before the judge today. The hearing was held in the courtroom of the Istanbul 4th High Criminal Court due to insufficient room capacity in the Istanbul 14th Criminal Court of First Instance.
'I DID NOT WANT TO MEET WITH KILIÇDAROGLU'
In his defense in court, Deniz Göktaş said, "It is just an organized lynching campaign against my show. As soon as my tour ended, I went to my friends abroad, like every year. I am someone who tries to convince all my friends who went abroad and got residence permits because they saw no future, to return to Turkey and reverse the brain drain. Despite this, my routine travels were reported in the press as 'escaped abroad'. It was also tragicomic to read these in their presence. The more I tried to prevent the brain drain, the more the Republic of Turkey did this." Police officers asked me, "Deniz, what are you doing? Why did you return to Turkey?" They said, "If I were you, I wouldn't stay in Turkey." When I was a child, they told me, "Become a civil servant, your life will be saved." Many people I met during this process told me the same thing. The next morning, I was brought to the Çağlayan Courthouse, where I told the story of the jokes. I told them. While I was waiting to be taken to the courthouse after the prosecutor's interrogation, my family, my lawyers and I were asked, "Do you want to meet with Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu?" I said that I did not want to meet. Despite this, I was made to meet with Kılıçdaroğlu in the corridor of the courthouse. As if the handcuffs were not enough, I did not want such a meeting. It took 64 days to prepare the indictment. "Then they told me, 'Deniz, get together.' My lawyers were not called again. They said there was a request for arrest for a new charge against me. In such a situation, one cannot help but think: Would I have faced a new charge if the first two charges had not been issued? I have that feeling right now. I hope I am wrong."
'HUMOR AND SATURY ARE AMONG OUR VALUES'
Göktaş said, "Let's come to the words I said about President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The expression here is a political criticism, a satire. I see that the metaphor of 'dictator' is considered an insult to the President. However, this word is also used in political discussions. Why should the use of a political term in a comedy show be an insult? Comedians can write different jokes on the same subject. An artist chooses a different word, another creates a different analogy. One joke may be found funnier than the other. This is in the nature of comedy." President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is also the Chairman of the AK Party. As the leader of the party that has been in power for many years and the most competent administrator of this geography, the metaphor of 'dictator' in the show is a political metaphor used in many parts of the world for rulers with authoritarian tendencies. The joke in which the word 'therapy' was used was for psychological support. Therapy is something that can be used by everyone and is a natural part of life. With this statement, I did not claim that anyone has a psychological disorder. The indictment is talking about the protection of our moral values. Humor and satire are among our values that span centuries. The reactions of a person who is disturbed by a joke are obvious: He may not go to the show, he may stop watching the comedian, he may criticize the joke and the comedian. But the reactions to the person who goes on stage should not include censorship, bans and arrests. The fear of censorship, bans and arrests is as worrying for all citizens as it is for artists. I don't think there is anything in my words that incites people to hatred and hostility. It is not appropriate for me to go on stage after day after day, openly insulting religious values. Don't get me wrong: These are sensitive issues that people care about. I don't claim that anyone should be offended by these sentences. Even if there are no derogatory words in the show, a person may not like the joke. "It is his natural right not to watch and to criticize. But if it is claimed that there is a derogatory or disrespectful expression in my words, this must be shown."
'MY SENTENCES IN THE INDICTMENT STARTED IN THE MIDDLE'
Göktaş said, "First of all, the quotations in the indictment are very incomplete and directive. In an accusation that can deprive a person of his freedom for years, it is started in the middle of the sentences. In one example, only the last word of the sentence is taken. I move on to the 'Fasting suicide bomber' joke. This sentence is also started halfway through the indictment. In the joke, I list the things that I fear as a citizen when I go out on the street: 'Riot force, fasting bus driver, suicide bomber'. The 'fasting bus driver' part is not included in the indictment. When this is removed, the context of the joke is removed." It is misrepresented. After counting, I stop and say, 'But I am most afraid of fasting suicide bombers'. First, I say 'fasting bus driver' and 'suicide bomber'; then, when I say 'fasting bus driver', I do not mean that people who fast are more likely to become bus drivers. This is mostly a joke. Moving on to the "fourth book" joke that was reacted to, it is claimed that this joke was aimed at the holy book and the people who believe in it. I also talked to an officer in the prison. He asked me, "You are a very good comedian, why did you make that joke?" "I did not use the word 'author' in a negative, sarcastic or derogatory sense. My words may be considered incorrect, unusual or offensive. However, I do not think that this reaches the level of disrespect and humiliation. Considering the entire paragraph in the indictment, the discussion here is about the words about the holy book itself. Saying that a translation is wrong or wrong does not mean insulting the people who believe in the book."
EVACUATION DECISION
The hearing prosecutor in his opinion on the merits; He demanded that Deniz Göktaş be punished and released on charges of "publicly insulting the President", "publicly inciting the public to hatred and hostility" through the press and publications, and "praising crime and criminals". An evacuation decision was made for Göktaş.
