Musician Ferhat Tunç put on trial over album cover

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İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has indicted musician Ferhat Tunç over the artwork of his "Marşlar ve Ağıtlar" album, which features three revolutionaries from the 1970s, Mahir Çayan, Deniz Gezmiş and İbrahim Kaypakkaya.

Tunç's social media post about an anti-war march in Europe and Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) MP Leyla Güven's hunger strike were also included in the indictment.

İstanbul 37th Heavy Penal Court has accepted the indictment and combined the case with another lawsuit against the musician.

Tunç has several lawsuits against him for crimes such as insulting the President and "terrorist propaganda."

"I've been on exile for nearly two years. I have always hoped that I will return to my country, my home. They don't stop and try to destroy my hope by opening new cases against me," he said after the new indictment.

"Thinking like this, they may file a lawsuit against the 68 generation. Because my album consists of requiems I sang 30-40 years before. The album's cover is a work that reflects this historical period," said Tunç.

He said that filing a criminal case because of an album cover would be remembered as the "shame of the judiciary" and that the judiciary was "acting upon instructions by the government."

"I won't give up doing arts and voice the truth and the hope, pain and values of society," he said. (HA/VK)