Gollum Was a Victim, say Experts in Erdoğan Defamation Case

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A report into the “Gollum case” case launched against Dr. Bilgin Çiftçi for defamation against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been released.

The report says that the Gollum character, whose picture was placed side by side with an image of Erdoğan, is not a bad individual, and was in fact oppressed.

The report was signed by Assistant Professor Dr. Esra Bilgiç, Psychologist Sercan Keçeli and Clinical Psychologist Serhat Damar of Istanbul Bilgi University. It reached the court last Wednesday (September 14), when the case’s seventh hearing was held.

In the case, an expert investigation into whether Gollum has a bad character or not has been carried out.

A previous expert report written for the case by a three-person panel was not accepted on the grounds that it had not been prepared in a single file.

Judge Murat Saz, who had been hearing the case at the Court of Third Instance, was arrested on July 21 as part of the investigation into the FETÖ/PDY (Fethullahist Terrorist Organization / Parallel State Organization).

Audience perception

The previous 10-page report was dated 19 July 2016.

“Along with the fact that Smeagol [Gollum’s former name] clearly and undisputedly has positive characteristics, it is not possible to say that the Gollum character can be described as completely negative or bad.

It added that in both the original J.R.R. Tolkien book and the Peter Jackson Adaptation, rather than being a “representation of evil,” Gollum is “depicted as a victim or an oppressed person,” and that it was in this light that most readers and viewers saw him.

In the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Gollum, who lives in a dark and damp cave, returns to his old identity -- Smeagol -- when he starts travelling with the hobbits Sam and Frodo. Gollum then tries to recapture Smeagol.

PETER JACKSON: THE PERSON IN THE PHOTO IS SMEAGOL, NOT GOLLUM

Erdoğan drops case

In the days following the July 15 attempted coup, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sent a waiver to the court, ruling that defamation cases be lifted.

The criminal case is continuing despite the waiver. A verdict will be given on October 25.

What had happened?

A prosecution has been launched against doctor Bilgin Çifti, who shared on Facebook photos of Smeagol and President Erdoğan juxtaposed. In February, a penalty of 20 caveat points was imposed by Aydın Public Health Directorate, but withdrawn by the Aydın Governorate in July.

Afterwards, Çiftçi was indicted for "defaming a public official" by the Aydın Chief Public Prosecution, and charged with "Publishing or sharing any banned statement, banner, poster or similar" has been imposed penalty of "discharging from civil service".

In Çiftçi’s trial for defaming the President, it was ruled that expert witnesses would be assigned to determine whether or not Gollum was evil.

The director of the movie, Peter Jackson, felt obliged to make a statement, and said that the character in the photo was Smeagol, "who is the good side of the Gollum".

The verdict was reported in international news organizations such as the Guardian, Independent, and FOX. (YY/PS)