The Kocaeli 2nd Penal Court has punished caricaturist Muhammet Sengöz to 11 months and 20 days imprisonment for a caricature entitled "Who's next, Mayor?" published in the "Free Kocaeli" newspaper. Kocaeli is the province bordering Istanbul to the east.
The case had been brought by Greater Kocaeli mayor Ibrahim Karaosmanoglu. Although the prosecution had expressed the view that Sengöz should be acquitted, he was sentenced on 21 September.
Sengöz had reacted to billboards which Karaosmanoglu had put up around the city which praised his achievements. A constant theme on the billboards was a person asking, "What's next, Mayor?" In Sengöz's caricature, a man with his back to the reader and with his trousers down is asking, "Who's next, Mayor?"
Gündogdu: Efforts to intimidate press
The newspaper's editor Ali Gündogdu found the fact that a case was opened worrying in itself and argued that Sengöz, like all humourists, was satirising a discomfort that society felt:
"Those who feel uncomfortable [with humourists] are trying, like Prime Minister Erdogan to the whole higher echelon of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), to apply to courts and to intimidate the press and humourists."
The prosecutor had argued that the caricature, published on 21 July 2007, did not contain an insult, and that it was a criticism. Sengöz himself said at the trial, "My caricature is a citizen's protest." The municipality lawyer, however, insisted on a punishment.
Prison sentence converted into fine
Finally, the court decided that Sengöz had overstepped the limits of criticism and he was sentenced to one year and two months imprisonment for making an insult. This was then reduced to 11 months and 20 days, and the prison sentence was converted into a 7,000 YTL fine. The newspaper's lawyer has announced that he will appeal against the sentence.
Sengöz, who has won many national and international awards, said that he respected the court's decision. Because the case was still continuing, he could not comment on the case, but said, "I will continue to draw and to criticise with my caricatures."
Who is Muhammet Sengöz?
Born in 1964, he graduated from the Marmara University Fine Arts Faculty (Istanbul). On 17 August 2001, two years after the earthquake which shook the Marmara region, he published a book of caricatures relating to the earthquake entitled "Is there anyone there?" He has a daily caricature in the "Free Kocaeli" newspaper and published a book of collected caricatures from the newspaper in 2003.
He has received awards by the "Cumhuriyet" newspaper, the Ankara Chamber of Pharmacists, the Mersin Chamber of Architects and the Human Rights Association, the Caricaturists' Association, the British Cultural Delegation and the "Corum News" newspaper. (EÖ/NZ)
