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Global Post
May 22 2013
Turkish-Armenian journalist jailed for blasphemy
An Istanbul court on Wednesday sentenced Turkish-Armenian journalist
Sevan Nisanyan to one year in jail for blasphemy over a blog
supporting a controversial anti-Islam film, the Anatolia news agency
reported.
The court found Nisanyan guilty of "publicly insulting the religious
values of part of the population" in a 2012 article over the
low-budget "Innocence of Muslims" which sparked protests across the
Arab world.
The case is the latest in a string of trials testing freedom of
expression in a country which has long sought to join the European
Union.
Nisanyan had given a spirited freedom of speech defence for the
"Innocence of Muslims", which portrayed the life of the Prophet
Mohammed and touched on the themes of paedophilia and homosexuality.
"Mocking an Arab leader who centuries ago claimed to have contacted
God and made political, financial and sexual benefits out of this is
not a crime of hatred," he wrote in his blog.
Prosecutors accused Nisanyan of "overstepping the boundaries of
freedom of speech and criticism" and said his article served to
"disturb public order."
The journalist, who was not present at Wednesday's hearing, was
sentenced to one year and 45 days in prison, higher than the usual
nine months, because the offence was committed through the media,
according to Anatolia.
In April, an Istanbul court ordered a retrial for world-renowned
pianist Fazil Say, who was sentenced to 10 months in prison for
allegedly inciting religious hatred and insulting Islamic values in a
series of tweets he posted last year.
fo/txw
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/130522/turkish-armenian-journalist-jailed-blasphemy
May 22 2013
Turkish-Armenian journalist jailed for blasphemy
An Istanbul court on Wednesday sentenced Turkish-Armenian journalist
Sevan Nisanyan to one year in jail for blasphemy over a blog
supporting a controversial anti-Islam film, the Anatolia news agency
reported.
The court found Nisanyan guilty of "publicly insulting the religious
values of part of the population" in a 2012 article over the
low-budget "Innocence of Muslims" which sparked protests across the
Arab world.
The case is the latest in a string of trials testing freedom of
expression in a country which has long sought to join the European
Union.
Nisanyan had given a spirited freedom of speech defence for the
"Innocence of Muslims", which portrayed the life of the Prophet
Mohammed and touched on the themes of paedophilia and homosexuality.
"Mocking an Arab leader who centuries ago claimed to have contacted
God and made political, financial and sexual benefits out of this is
not a crime of hatred," he wrote in his blog.
Prosecutors accused Nisanyan of "overstepping the boundaries of
freedom of speech and criticism" and said his article served to
"disturb public order."
The journalist, who was not present at Wednesday's hearing, was
sentenced to one year and 45 days in prison, higher than the usual
nine months, because the offence was committed through the media,
according to Anatolia.
In April, an Istanbul court ordered a retrial for world-renowned
pianist Fazil Say, who was sentenced to 10 months in prison for
allegedly inciting religious hatred and insulting Islamic values in a
series of tweets he posted last year.
fo/txw
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/130522/turkish-armenian-journalist-jailed-blasphemy