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An Istanbul court convicted stand-up comedian Deniz Göktaş of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and religious values on September 28 but ordered his immediate release after nearly three months in custody. The 14th Penal Court of First Instance sentenced the 32-year-old to 11 months and 20 days on the first charge and seven months and 15 days on the second according to broadcaster NTV and Hurriyet newspaper. Judges imposed a travel ban and deferred a final decision to the appeals court while acquitting him on a separate count of praising crime and criminals.
Göktaş was detained on July 3 after returning from abroad once a recording of his “Dead Sea” performance gained more than 15 million views on YouTube Reuters reported. Prosecutors highlighted remarks in which he described Erdoğan as a “shy dictator” along with references to the Quran and imprisoned Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu. The performer who denied the charges told the court he had staged the routine 197 times before live audiences totalling over 100 000 people without incident prior to the video’s release a Bianet dispatch detailed.
During the hearing Göktaş argued that his satire contained no criminal element and that similar observations about the president were commonplace in Turkish discourse. “Someone else might have called him a democrat and made people laugh more than I did” he stated according to local media coverage of the proceedings. The court amended one of the original charges from inciting hatred to insulting religious values before delivering the combined sentence of just over 19 months.
Supporters gathered outside the Çağlayan courthouse in Istanbul carrying signs declaring “Deniz Göktaş not alone” photographs from the scene showed. His legal team voiced relief at the outcome with one lawyer saying “We hardly know what to do with our happiness” and noting they “weren’t hopeful of getting a fair trial.” Göktaş is expected to spend time with family before resuming performances the defence team added.
The verdict arrives amid ongoing scrutiny of Article 299 of the Turkish Penal Code which makes insulting the president a criminal offence punishable by up to four years in prison. Turkish Justice Ministry statistics cited by the Stockholm Center for Freedom indicate more than 100 000 investigations for insulting public officials were opened in 2024 resulting in over 14 000 convictions and thousands of suspended sentences. Data covering 2019 to 2022 showed more than 52 000 such probes linked to the president or government institutions according to Turkish Minute reporting.
Human rights organisations have long criticised the statute for restricting freedom of expression with the European Court of Human Rights calling for its repeal in a 2021 judgment. The Stockholm Center for Freedom noted that 207 minors alone were convicted under related insult laws in 2025 underscoring the statute’s broad application. While Göktaş regains his liberty journalists activists students and politicians including Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu remain incarcerated on comparable or separate charges according to monitoring by groups such as the Media and Law Studies Association.
