Stage actor Genco Erkal acquitted of 'insulting the president'

Click to read the article in Turkish

Stage actor Genco Erkal has been acquitted of "insulting the president" in the case filed because of his social media posts.

The final hearing of the case where Erkal faced prison sentences of one to four years was heard at the İstanbul 16th Penal Court of First Instance. Rights advocates and main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) İstanbul Provincial Chair Canan Kaftancıoğlu followed the hearing.

In his defense, Erkal said, "It's a pleasing situation. Viewing sheepherding as a valuable thing, Mr. President says, 'I'm a shepherd as well.' How can this be an insult? He admits this as well. I did not insult him. I do not accept the allegations."

The lawyer of President and Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan demanded Erkal be penalized, alleging that calling the president a "shepherd" was an insult.

The prosecutor of the hearing stated that Erkal's statements about the president's diploma and his interference with how many children should families make, about the construction activities in the Ayder Plateau, and criticism of the "Turkish-type presidential system" were within the scope of freedom of expression and demanded the actor's acquittal.

The court ruled for the acquittal of Genco Erkal. Making a statement in front of the courtroom, Erkal said, "We are happy."

What happened?

Erkal announced on April 16, 2021, that the tweets he had posted since 2016 had been examined and an investigation against him had been opened for insulting the president.

He testified at the İstanbul Courthouse in the same investigation on April 19, 2021. Speaking to reporters later, he had said, "I told them that my job is political theater, that I've been doing this for 60 years, that I'm against unfairness, oppression, injustice and bigotry anywhere in the world and that I express my thoughts both on the stage and on social media."

"I said 'I'm against the presidential system.' I said 'I'm against the restrictions on freedom of expression, people being imprisoned for their thoughts and the slaughter of nature'," he had said.

Erkal's tweets

In a tweet he posted on June 7, 2016, Erkal said, "Instead of interfering with whether families will have children or not, let's show your diploma. Let us see it, even if it comes from a rector friend of yours, even if it is fake," referring to the decades-long allegations that Erdoğan did not graduate from university.

In another tweet on November 16, 2016, Erkal said, "Presidential system is not enough. Let there be a Turkish-type shepherding system."

"Erdoğan said 'We plan to complete the works in the Ayder Plateau by 2022.' Alas, he decided to finish off Ayder Plateau, a natural wonder. Everything he touches dries up and turns into concrete," the actor wrote on August 16, 2020.

Erkal had testified at the İstanbul Courthouse in the same investigation on April 19. Speaking to reporters later, he had said, "I told them that my job is political theater, that I've been doing this for 60 years, that I'm against unfairness, oppression, injustice and bigotry anywhere in the world and that I express my thoughts both on the stage and on social media."

"I said 'I'm against the presidential system.' I said 'I'm against the restrictions on freedom of expression, people being imprisoned for their thoughts and the slaughter of nature'," he had said.

(EMK/VK)