The pianist and composer, a vocal opponent of Turkey’s Prime Minister Erdogan, has been given a suspended 10 month jail term for his ‘blasphemous’ comments on Twitter.
In one message he retweeted a verse from a poem by Omar Khayyám in which the 11th-century Persian poet attacks pious hypocrisy: “You say rivers of wine flow in heaven, is heaven a tavern to you? You say two huris [companions] await each believer there, is heaven a brothel to you?” In other tweets, he made fun of a muezzin (a caller to prayer) and certain religious practices.
The Telegraph quotes from his lawyer’s defence:
“We reject the charges against us but the decision is the court’s,” the musician’s lawyer Meltem Akyol told the court.
“We believe that there is no intentional act of denigration or mockery” in Say’s tweets, she said.
Perhaps she’s right – but even if there had been intentional ‘denigration or mockery’ it’s still outrageous that Say (or anyone) should face punishment for this ‘crime’.
