Release order issued for Deniz Göktaş: Rearrested before leaving prison
Following an appeal against his detention, a release order was issued for comedian Deniz Göktaş. After the release decision, Göktaş was brought before the Istanbul 4th Criminal Court of Peace via SEGBİS and was rearrested on charges of "praising a crime and a criminal" before he could be released.
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The Istanbul Criminal Court of First Instance, which reviewed the appeal against the detention of comedian Deniz Göktaş, who is being held at the Karatepe High-Security Closed Penal Institution in Çorlu, known as a "well-type" prison, issued a release order.
Following the release order, Göktaş was brought before the criminal court of peace via SEGBİS on charges of "praising a crime and a criminal." Göktaş's lawyer was not notified, and a lawyer was called from the bar association. Göktaş stated that he had no intention of praising a crime or a criminal in his show titled "Ölü Deniz" (Dead Sea).
According to the report by Furkan Karabay from Medyascope, Göktaş said, "Turkey is becoming an increasingly deprived country, the administrators and ministers are saying the same thing; I am a comedian, I would not do such a thing, it contains purely humorous criticism."
The Istanbul 4th Criminal Court of Peace issued an arrest warrant due to the following remarks in Göktaş's show: "With the ticket revenue from the front row today—although the front row is invited by the municipality, so there is no revenue there. Let's say the second row, it would be safer. With the ticket revenue from the second row today, we can hire a hitman in Turkey and have a rival comedian killed. The market is in this state right now. Just the second row, and a Telegram group. You write 'Daltons' there, there is a very corporate communication. You deposit the money via Bitcoin, and they don't even track it. When they kill him, the photo comes, 'This was him, right, brother?' But he had a twin, that was my mistake. You deposit it again, a magnificent system..."
The court evaluated the statements in question as "expressions that praise, legitimize, and facilitate access to crime by the known criminal group called the 'Daltons Gang'."
The Istanbul 4th Criminal Court of Peace issued the arrest warrant on the grounds of "suspicion of flight and tampering with evidence." Göktaş will continue to remain in prison.