Penguen humor magazine reacted to the court ruling that its caricaturists Bahadır Baruter and Özer Aydoğan were punished for insult charges, saying that the ruling was “very pretencious and meaningful”.
On March 24, caricaturist Bahadır Baruter has been convicted to pay a fine of 7,000 liras for insulting Recep Tayyip Erdoğan with a caricature.
The conviction was made according to Turkish Penal Code Article 125 on "insulting a public officer" due to a caricature that depicted then-PM Erdoğan shaking hands with a man who circled his other hand’s finger — body language that is associated with homosexuality.
The fine was imposed after commuting a prison sentence of 14 months due to “good conduct”.
“No element of insult...”
The magazine staff released a statement, saying that they were so upset about the recent ruling:
“Not only as caricuturists but also as citizens, it made us upset that a caricature was sued and consequently convicted. We find the opening of this case pretentious in terms of freedom of expression even though our cover caricature didn’t include any element of insult. It is very meaningful for the press freedom,” the statement said.
“We will keep on drawing our caricatures the way that we want it. We are hoping that it will be the “last example of efforts to turn down free thought”. (EÖ/BM)
* Photo credit: Cumhuriyet newspaper
* Click here to read the article in Turkish.
