According to the NY Times, on Monday, April 15 , 2013 a court in Istanbul handed down a suspended 10-month jail term for Fazil Say, convicted of insulting Islam and offending Muslims in postings on Twitter. Mr. Say, 42, who has performed with major orchestras around the world in places including New York, Berlin and Tokyo, said during earlier hearings that the accusations against him went “against universal human rights and laws.” The sentence was suspended for five years, meaning that the pianist will not be sent to prison unless he is convicted of re-offending within that period. In recent years, many intellectuals, writers and artists have been prosecuted for statements about Islam and Turkish identity, both of which the pro-Islamic government seeks to shield from criticism. Social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter, however, have rarely figured in previous trials, although Turks are active users of the sites. The messages cited in the indictment were Mr. Say’s personal remarks referring to a poem by a famous 11th-century Persian poet, Omar Khayyam, which poked fun at an Islamic vision of the afterlife. The poem was sent to Mr. Say from another user before he forwarded it. In another personal Twitter post, he joked about the rapid call to prayer at a nearby mosque, questioning whether the muezzin who makes the call was running late for a drink. Mr. Say, who denied the charges, is known for his critical stance against the government’s social and cultural policies. He has said publicly that he is an atheist — a rare statement in a country where the bulk of the population of 74 million identify themselves as Muslims. “Would it be for the government to decide whether a person believes in God or not?” Mr. Say said on CNN Turk, a private television news channel, in a recent interview. “It is hard for them to put me in jail.” Hundreds of Mr. Say’s fans and supporters have attended the three hearings in six months to protest against his prosecution. He has continued to perform nationally and internationally, and, when the sentence was handed down, he was in Germany for a concert in the southern town of Reutlingen. In a written statement, Mr. Say said he was concerned about the implications of the court’s judgment for freedom of expression in his country, since he had been sentenced “although I’ve committed no crime.”
Posted on: Sat, 22 Jun 2013 06:58:40 +0000
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