Turkish cartoonists sentenced to jail for insulting Erdo?an

Two cartoonists for the popular satirical weekly Penguen have been jailed to 11 months in prison, over a satirical piece on free speech in which they were convicted of including a hidden gesture ?insulting? Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an.

Cartoonists Bahad?r Baruter and Özer Aydo?an were sued for the Aug. 21, 2014, cover of the magazine, which satirized Erdo?an?s election as Turkey?s president. In the drawing, Erdo?an is seen asking whether officials at the new presidential palace in Ankara have prepared ?any journalists to slaughter,? referring to ritual sacrifice in Islam, to mark his inauguration.

Soon after the publication, a Turkish citizen named Cem Safc?er filed a complaint to the Prime Ministry, arguing that the ?ball-shaped? hand gesture is used to imply that the person being addressed is homosexual. 

A prosecutor then prepared an indictment to open a lawsuit, claiming that the hand gesture was ?against the ethical and cultural norms of Turkish society? and ?went beyond the right of criticism to insult.? 

Erdo?an?s lawyers, who stepped into the case, sided with the prosecutor, demanding that the court punish the cartoonists for ?insulting a public official.?

The cartoonists, who faced a prison sentence of up to two years, defended themselves in the first hearing of the case at the 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance in Istanbul March 19. 

?If you look at the whole picture, you see that the joke has got nothing to do with the gesture. There is no such joke technique,? Baruter said. 

Aydo?an also pleaded not guilty, arguing that Baruter drew the picture as he conceived it and ?such a simple thing could not be included in this joke.?

Cartoonists Özer Aydo?an (L) and Bahad?r...