Turkey: 4 Charlie Hebdo journalists indicted for "insulting" Erdogan
Demonstration in Istanbul against Charlie Hebdo cartoons, September 13, 2020. AFP - OZAN KOSE
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A Turkish prosecutor on Friday demanded up to four years of imprisonment against four collaborators of the French satirical weekly
Charlie Hebdo
whom he accuses of having "
insulted
" President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a cartoon published last year.
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According to the Turkish state press agency Anadolu, the four
accused
Charlie Hebdo
collaborators
are the cartoonist Alice Petit and three managers of the famous weekly, Gérard Biard, Julien Sérignac and Laurent Sourisseau, said Riss.
The publication of this cartoon in October had aroused Erdogan's anger amidst heightened diplomatic tensions between Ankara and Paris.
We saw the authoritarian Turkish president drawn in his underwear, beer in hand, lifting the dress of a veiled woman, exclaiming: “
Ouuuh!
The Prophet !
".
In his indictment, which has yet to be formally accepted by a court for a trial to begin, the Turkish prosecutor considers that this cartoon "
does not in any way
fall
within the scope of freedom of expression or the press
”, describing the press cartoon as“
vulgar, obscene and dishonorable
”.
Dozens of journalists arrested in recent years
After the publication of this cartoon, Recep Tayyip Erdogan denounced a "
vile attack
" committed by "
scoundrels
".
This case took place in the context of a diplomatic crisis between Turkey and France, the Turkish head of state accusing French President Emmanuel Macron in particular of "
Islamophobia
" for having defended the right to caricature the Prophet Muhammad.
Erdogan: in the private sector, he is very funny!
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- Charlie Hebdo (@Charlie_Hebdo_) October 27, 2020
The announcement of the indictment of
Charlie Hebdo
journalists also
comes a few days after Emmanuel Macron accused Turkey of "
interference
" and in the midst of a controversy in France over the financing of a mosque supported by a pro association. Turkish in Strasbourg (east).
The NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on Friday denounced the prosecution of
Charlie Hebdo
collaborators
, accusing Ankara of wanting to "
expand censorship beyond Turkey
".
Regularly pinned down by NGOs, Turkey is ranked 154th out of 180 in the press freedom index published by RSF.
Dozens of journalists have been arrested and several opposition media prosecuted or closed in recent years in this country.
(With AFP)
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Turkey
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Freedom of press
Media
France