Hol
Well-known
ANKARA, July 2 (Reuters) - A Turkish court on Wednesday ordered the arrest of cartoonist Dogan Pehlevan and three others pending trial, after a drawing in their satirical magazine stirred outrage among religious conservatives and condemnation by President Tayyip Erdogan.
Pehlevan faces charges, which he denies, of inciting hatred and insulting the president, according to a court document. Justice Minster Yilmaz Tunc said the four had been arrested.
The cartoon, published shortly after war ended between Israel and Iran, showed two elderly men named Mohammad and Moses shaking hands in the sky while missiles flew below — a scene critics said blasphemously referenced Muslim and Jewish prophets.
On Tuesday, Erdogan called the Leman magazine cartoon a "vile provocation" and vowed that "those who show disrespect to our Prophet and other prophets will be held accountable before the law." His AK Party called it an Islamophobic hate crime.
Pehlevan faces charges, which he denies, of inciting hatred and insulting the president, according to a court document. Justice Minster Yilmaz Tunc said the four had been arrested.
The cartoon, published shortly after war ended between Israel and Iran, showed two elderly men named Mohammad and Moses shaking hands in the sky while missiles flew below — a scene critics said blasphemously referenced Muslim and Jewish prophets.
On Tuesday, Erdogan called the Leman magazine cartoon a "vile provocation" and vowed that "those who show disrespect to our Prophet and other prophets will be held accountable before the law." His AK Party called it an Islamophobic hate crime.