Kılıçdaroğlu remarks leave their mark on the hearing: Release decision for Deniz Göktaş

Comedian Deniz Göktaş, who was detained at the airport while returning to Turkey from abroad following his stand-up show titled "Dead Sea" (Ölü Deniz) and arrested on July 3, appeared before a judge for the first hearing of his trial.

Göktaş, who is being held at the Karatepe High-Security Prison in the Çorlu district of Tekirdağ, faces charges of "insulting the President," "inciting the public to hatred and enmity and denigrating them," and "praising crime and criminals." It is requested that Göktaş be sentenced to up to 12 years and 2 months in prison.

"I WILL HEAR A CAR HORN FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 88 DAYS"

Sharing a post on his social media account before the hearing, Göktaş made assessments regarding his 88-day detention process.

"I will be handcuffed for the first time in 88 days and I will hear a car horn," said Göktaş, adding, "It is certain that I did not miss the handcuffs, let's see if I missed the car horn."

Sharing information about his health condition in prison, Göktaş stated, "I am fine. It turns out one can live without the sun; the sun was an overrated balloon."

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COURTROOM CHANGED

Tight security measures were taken before the hearing, which was scheduled to be held at the Istanbul Courthouse. Only courthouse staff, journalists with press cards, and individuals with scheduled hearings were allowed into the courthouse.

Göktaş's hearing, which was planned to be held at the 14th Criminal Court of First Instance, was moved to the 4th High Criminal Court courtroom.

The hearing, which was expected to start at 10:00, began at 11:25. Making his defense, Göktaş stated that he had been held in prison since July 3 and said:

"Since July 3, I have been in a cell in a well-type prison without seeing the sun, and unlike other detainees, I have had no human contact other than one phone call per week.

"I HAVE BEEN IN A CELL FOR 22 DAYS PER SENTENCE"

I am being accused because of 4 sentences I uttered in Harbiye, and I have been in a cell for exactly 22 days for each sentence I uttered. If I have become a reason for self-censorship for people who write and draw, that is my only concern. Please let it not be so; know that our words are much more effective than we estimate.

There are a total of 4 sentences I am accused of. I said these sentences to five thousand people in Harbiye and before that 197 times to more than 100 thousand spectators all over Turkey. In all of them, I received no reaction other than laughter and applause."

"AS IF REVERSE HANDCUFFS WEREN'T ENOUGH, I WAS FORCED TO MEET WITH KILIÇDAROĞLU"

"While waiting to be arrested at the courthouse, as if it wasn't enough that they put me in reverse handcuffs, I was forced to meet with Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, despite asking 3 times and refusing. Then I sat and watched with a smile as my statements were denied on TV."

"ALL POLICE OFFICERS SAID, 'DENİZ, ARE YOU STUPID? WHY DID YOU RETURN TO TURKEY?'"

Göktaş stated that the news reports claiming he had fled abroad did not reflect the truth and explained his reason for returning to Turkey.

"I am someone who tries to convince my friends who moved abroad to return to the country, but they made news about me saying I fled abroad. As I try to prevent brain drain, Turkey puts obstacles in my way. All the police officers said, 'Deniz, are you stupid? Why did you return to Turkey?'"

Stating that he understood he would be filmed during his detention, Göktaş continued:

"I understood that footage would be taken. I said I did not consent to this. They put me in reverse handcuffs. I lifted my head and laughed. I congratulate the police department for catching me."

GÖKTAŞ STOOD BY HIS 'DICTATOR' JOKE

Explaining that he was re-arrested after the release decision, Göktaş reminded that political satire had been performed in the past as well. Commemorating Ferhan Şensoy, Göktaş said the only thing that has changed from the past to the present is the 'fragile administrators':

'It is your duty, the duty of the judiciary, to protect comedians and artists against those in power who are disturbed by the jokes of comedians. Those in power already have plenty of power; they have thousands of trolls. If political humor is still not banned in this country, my 'dictator' joke is not a crime either. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is primarily responsible for every kind of political joke made in this country, and it is his responsibility to solve the problems that are being joked about.'

Göktaş also recalled that a retired police officer committed suicide in front of the Constitutional Court and that an AK Party executive mentioned in a 'fund scandal' asked for forgiveness from the President, and said:

"If the name of an AK Party executive is involved in a fund scandal and he asks for forgiveness from his superior, then 'dictator' jokes will be made."

Stating that the case against him was opened with complaints made to CİMER (Presidential Communication Center), Göktaş gave examples of the complaints:

'185 complaints have been made about me to CİMER. Let's think, for example, the Teletubbies have been shown on television for years. Even that has received more than 185 complaints. I did not understand how this case was opened against me with 185 complaints.

In one of the complaints, it was written, 'This kid compares the Seljuk Empire to a salad.' In another, it was said, 'This kid's account goes up by a hundred thousand and down by 100 thousand, it could be foreign powers.' One wrote, 'I want him to be deported or executed.' Another said, 'Let him be executed in a country where there is capital punishment.'

The man is doing execution innovation. I mean, there is a comedian but there is no capital punishment in the country, there is capital punishment in a country but no comedian. The man combined the two and made an innovation. And under these two complaints, it says 'Your application has been processed.'

This hate speech is very sad. I hope I am not executed. A case was opened against me with these complaints, and the content of the accusations is not even in the indictment.'

GÖKTAŞ SAID HE DID NOT UNDERSTAND WHY THE 'FOUR BOOKS' AND DIVER JOKES IN THE INDICTMENT WERE CONSIDERED CRIMES

Göktaş defended the jokes that were the subject of the accusation in the indictment one by one:

''There are four books, the fourth book is my favorite' joke, I don't understand what is disrespectful about it. I don't understand what they were disturbed by. Even secular friends criticized me. It is against the ordinary flow of life for me to travel from city to city by insulting a religious book.

In prison, the guard told me, 'You are a good kid, but it would have been better if you hadn't made that joke.' I asked what he was offended by. I attributed human values to God by saying 'It was written.' I mean, the word 'written' might be wrong in terms of religious terminology, but I don't understand why this is a subject of accusation.'

Stating that he did not understand why the diver joke was a subject of accusation, Göktaş continued:

'I mean, the only person disturbed by this was Nagehan Alçı. And I didn't take her seriously because she has a mental retardation problem. This also came before me as an accusation.

A diver had said he would sue me because of my diver joke. I don't know if he did. But he understood the show better than the indictment. If there is an insult here, it is to the divers. I am not insulting women in burkinis; on the contrary, I am protecting them and I condemn those who discriminate.'

Demanding his acquittal and release, Göktaş said: "I stayed in prison for 24 times the duration of my stand-up show."

PROSECUTOR'S REQUEST FOR RELEASE

In the hearing, the prosecutor, who announced his opinion on the merits, stated that Deniz Göktaş's remarks towards President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan exceeded the limits of criticism.

The prosecutor noted that the expressions Göktaş used in his show, "It is a good thing for Recep Tayyip Erdoğan himself, if we don't count what happened to us, that he transformed from a shy dictator into a dictator at peace with himself," should be evaluated within the scope of insulting the President.

In the opinion, CİMER applications regarding the jokes about burkinis and fasting in Göktaş's show were also presented as evidence.

The prosecutor requested that Göktaş be punished for all the crimes he is charged with and be released upon the verdict.

RELEASE DECISION ISSUED

The court acquitted him of the charge of "praising crime and criminals." Evaluating the accusation in the indictment as "inciting the public to hatred and enmity or denigrating them" within the scope of "denigrating religious values," the court sentenced Göktaş to 7 months and 15 days in prison, and 11 months and 20 days for the crime of "insulting the President."

The court ordered Göktaş's release upon the verdict.

Thus, Göktaş was also acquitted of the "praising crime and criminals" charge for which he was later arrested.