Comedian Deniz Göktaş, who had been facing up to 12 years in prison over his "Ölü Deniz" (Dead Sea) stand-up show and had been detained for 88 days, was released at his first hearing.
The court, hearing the case at the Istanbul 14th Criminal Court of First Instance, announced its verdict in line with the prosecutor's opinion. The court sentenced Göktaş to 11 months and 20 days in prison for "insulting the President" and 7 months and 15 days for "publicly inciting hatred and enmity." He was acquitted of the charge of "praising a crime and a criminal," and the court ordered his release, taking into account the time he had already spent in custody.
"My dream was for the three of us to leave in one car"
In a statement made after his release from prison, Deniz Göktaş said:
"Sinem Dedetaş is here, Mehmet Pehlivan is here. My dream was always that the three of us would go to Istanbul together in one car. It didn't happen that way.
Oğuzhan Uğur is here; I still don't know what his charge is. I mean, even though I follow the news, there are thousands of people in Turkey—not just here, but in Silivri and many other prisons—who are being tried while in custody like me, or who are imprisoned because of their ideas.
So, being inside or outside... of course, it is very nice to be outside, I missed it a lot, but it doesn't make much of a difference whether you are inside or outside.
I hope we reach a state where we all attain our freedom together. Thank you, take care."
News Source: 12punto
