An Istanbul court today slapped world-renowned pianist Fazil Say with a 10-month suspended jail term for blasphemy in what the musician has said was a political case instigated by Turkey's ruling party, AFP reported.
The court handed down the sentence after finding Say guilty of "insulting religious values of a part of the population" for a series of provocative tweets that critics said had insulted Islam and Muslims. The pianist was not present in court during the sentencing.
Say faces charges of allegedly "publicly insulting people’s religious beliefs" by sharing an Omar Khayyam quote through his Twitter account in April 2012.
Say ruffled some feathers and created a storm of controversy on Twitter, when he tweeted a couplet from Khayyam. "You say its rivers will flow in wine. Is the Garden of Eden a drinking house? You say you will give two hours to each Muslim. Is the Garden of Eden a whorehouse?" Say tweeted.
He also tweeted, "I don’t know whether you have noticed or not but wherever there is a stupid person or a thief, they are believers in God. Is this a paradox?"
Khayyam, who lived in 12th century, was a Persian philosopher, mathematician, astronomer and poet. Some literature circles do not accept that these couplets were written by him.
Say has accused the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of being behind the case against him.
Say, an atheist, has often criticized the Islamist-rooted party, accusing it of having a secret agenda to promote conservative values in Turkey.
The 43-year-old virtuoso, who has played with the philharmonic orchestras of Berlin, New York, Tokyo and Israel, was charged with inciting religious hatred and insulting Islamic values in the series of tweets.
He faced a maximum sentence of 18 months. The case stoked fears of growing restrictions on freedom of expression in Turkey.
Bütün xəbərlər Facebook səhifəmizdə
USD
EUR
GBP
RUB