Dozens of journalists are in detention in Turkey, as well as lawyers, politicians and lawmakers — most of them accused of plotting against the government or having links with the outlawed Kurdish rebel movement the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | Int'l Desk
Source/Credit: The Express Tribune / AFP
By AFP | September 20,2013
ISTANBUL: An Istanbul court on Friday again handed a 10-month suspended jail term to world-renowned Turkish pianist Fazil Say during a retrial over social media posts deemed religiously offensive, his lawyer said.
Say, who was not present at Friday’s hearing, was also placed on a two-year probation, his lawyer Meltem Akyol told AFP, adding that he planned to appeal the verdict.
Say was originally sentenced on April 15 for allegedly inciting religious hatred and insulating Islamic values in a series of tweets he posted last year.
A higher Istanbul court then overturned the conviction on “procedural flaws” and a retrial was ordered.
On Friday, the 43-year-old virtuoso, who has played with the philharmonic orchestras of Berlin, New York, Tokyo and Israel, shrugged off his sentence.
“Tomorrow, I will continue to live and to produce,” he wrote in a tweet. “By continuing to live, by continuing to think as a free man, I will produce even better work.”
Say was prosecuted for a series of tweets criticising Muslims.
Another tweet which prosecutors say explicitly insulted religious values, questions why a call to prayer was so short.
The high-profile case has irked secular Turks, who are worried about what they see a creeping conservatism in the predominantly Muslim country.
Say has accused the Justice and Development Party (AKP) of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, of being behind the case against him.
The case has also stoked fears of growing restrictions on freedom of expression in a country which has long sought to join the European Union.
Dozens of journalists are in detention in Turkey, as well as lawyers, politicians and lawmakers — most of them accused of plotting against the government or having links with the outlawed Kurdish rebel movement the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Read original post here: Turkey: Pianist handed jail term in blasphemy retrial
This content-post is archived for backup and to keep archived records of any news Islam Ahmadiyya. The views expressed by the author and source of this news archive do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of Ahmadiyya Times.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for your comments. Any comments irrelevant to the post's subject matter, containing abuses, and/or vulgar language will not be approved.