Turkish comedian Deniz Goktas was due to go on trial in Istanbul on Monday, accused of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and inciting public hatred during a June stand-up show. He has been held in pretrial detention since his July 3 arrest.
A video of the show that Goktas released on YouTube drew nearly nine million views. Prosecutors later added a charge of praising crime and criminals; Goktas said on X that it concerned a joke about the Daltons, one of Turkey’s organised crime groups.
The indictment did not clearly specify a sentence. Turkish media outlets estimated that conviction on all charges could mean a decade or more in prison.
