Elif Akgül, İstanbul – Musician Ferhat Tunç has been sentenced to 1 year, 11 months and 12 days imprisonment for distributing terrorist propaganda on the basis of social media posts he made in 2015 and 2016.
Tunç appeared before the İstanbul 36. High Criminal Court to argue that "An artist does not make propaganda for any organization. They develop a responsibility for the people. That is what I have done. History shows that legal proceedings against artists, are aimed to silence and pressure them. These artists have lived on, in their art. If we are to claim that this country has freedom of expression and rule of law, I am sure that this case must be dropped."
People’s Democratic Party Mps Garo Paylan and Hüda Kay were present at the hearing to monitor the proceedings. A panel of three judges - Hakan Özer, Onur Engin Deniz and Veli Gürsoy – handed down the lengthy prison sentence and allowed for their decision to be appealed within the following week.
Updated: December 3 2018
