Authorities have censored the satirical magazine LeMan due to the publication of a "Muhammad-Moses" cartoon in its Jun 26 issue. Courts have ordered the blocking of access to the magazine’s website and social media accounts, as well as the removal of the issue from shelves.
The controversy centers on a drawing featuring two elderly characters named Muhammad and Moses exchanging greetings, “Salamun Alaykum” and “Aleichem Shalom," while floating over a city reduced to rubble. The cartoon, which went viral on social media on Jun 30, was accused of depicting the Prophet Muhammad, a depiction considered inappropriate in Islamic tradition.
The reaction escalated into physical attacks on the magazine's office after the Great Eastern Raiders’ Association (Islamist Büyük Doğu Akıncılar Derneği), an Islamist group, publicly targeted the magazine. In response, an Islamist crowd threw stones at LeMan’s office in İstanbul’s Beyoğlu district. The attackers chanted slogans including “Allahu Akbar,” “Down with secularism, long live sharia,” and “Infidel LeMan will be held accountable."
The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched a criminal investigation into the cartoon for “publicly insulting religious values.” The cartoonist, graphic designer, editorial director, and business manager were taken into custody and subjected to mistreatment.
The same prosecutor’s office ordered the immediate seizure of all copies of the Jun 26 issue. Shortly after, İstanbul’s 5th Penal Judgeship of Peace issued a ruling to block access to LeMan’s website and its account on the social media platform X. The ruling cited Article 8/A of Law No. 5651 on Internet Publications, invoking concerns for “national security and public order.” LeMan has around 600,000 followers on X.
Yaman Akdeniz, a law professor and co-founder of the Freedom of Expression Association (İFÖD), criticized the measures, calling them a form of extrajudicial punishment. “Everything is solved by shutting down, banning, blocking, and silencing,” he said.
In a statement responding to the backlash, the magazine clarified that the cartoon did not depict prophets but rather two individuals named Muhammad and Moses. It emphasized that the cartoon was anti-war in nature. (HA/VK)
