Kılıçdaroğlu remarks leave their mark on the hearing: Release requested 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 hostility and denigrating them," and "praising a crime and a criminal." 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 period.

"I will be handcuffed for the first time in 88 days and I will hear a car horn" said Göktaş, "It is certain that I haven't missed the handcuffs, let's see if I have missed the sound of a car horn" he stated.

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

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COURTROOM CHANGED

Intensive 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 admitted to the building.

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

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

"Since July 3, I have been in a well-type prison cell 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 caused self-censorship among writers and artists, that is my only concern. Please, let that not be the case; know that our words are much more influential than we anticipate.

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 100,000 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"

"As if it weren't enough that they put me in reverse handcuffs while waiting to be arrested at the courthouse, I was forced to meet with Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, despite being asked 3 times and refusing. Then I sat and watched with a laugh 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 reported that I had 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 realized he would be filmed during his detention, Göktaş continued:

"I realized 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 has been practiced in the past as well. Commemorating Ferhan Şensoy, Göktaş said that 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 satire is still not banned in this country, then 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 official mentioned in the 'fund scandal' asked for forgiveness from the President, and spoke as follows:

"If an AK Party official's name 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 based on complaints made to CİMER (Presidential Communication Center), Göktaş gave examples of the complaints:

'There have been 185 complaints about me to CİMER. Let's think, for example, the Teletubbies have been shown on television for years. Even they have received more than 185 complaints. I don't 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 100 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 that has the death penalty.'

The man is innovating on the death penalty. I mean, there is a comedian but there is no death penalty in the country, there is a death penalty in a country but no comedian. The man combined the two and innovated. 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 DOES NOT UNDERSTAND WHY THE 'FOUR BOOKS' AND DIVER JOKES IN THE INDICTMENT ARE CONSIDERED CRIMES

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

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

In prison, a guard told me, 'You're a good kid, but it would have been better if you hadn't made that joke.' I asked what he was offended by. I had 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 does not understand why the diver joke is a subject of accusation, Göktaş continued:

'I mean, the only person bothered by this was Nagehan Alçı. And I didn't take her seriously because she has a mental retardation issue. This also came up 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 condemning those who discriminate.'

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

RELEASE REQUEST FROM THE PROSECUTOR

Announcing his opinion on the merits at the hearing, the prosecutor stated that Deniz Göktaş's remarks regarding President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan exceeded the limits of criticism.

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

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

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