Turkish comedian Deniz Göktaş was jailed pending trial on July 3 on charges of denigrating religious values and insulting the president, following an investigation into his stand-up performance that has attracted millions of views online.
The 32-year-old comedian was detained at Istanbul Airport on July 2 upon returning from a vacation abroad.
After nearly a day in police custody and judicial proceedings, a court ordered his pretrial arrest on July 3.
“I had absolutely no intention of committing the offense of publicly insulting the religious values embraced by a segment of society. This performance is part of a show I have been staging in various cities across Türkiye for nearly three years. More than 100,000 people have watched it live, and not a single complaint has been filed claiming that this particular segment caused offense,” Göktaş said in his testimony, as quoted by local media.
Rejecting the accusation of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Göktaş added, “I had no intention whatsoever of degrading or insulting the president.”
The investigation stems from a stand-up performance Göktaş gave in Istanbul on June 1. A 90-minute recording of the show was uploaded to YouTube on June 24 and has since garnered nearly 9 million views.
The performance offered a satirical take on Türkiye’s political climate, with Göktaş joking about Erdoğan, drug-related and gang investigations and several other domestic issues.
Prosecutors initially launched an investigation on charges of publicly insulting the religious values. The allegation of insulting the president was added later.
Hundreds of supporters gathered outside the Çağlayan Courthouse in Istanbul during Göktaş’s hearing on July 3 to demonstrate solidarity with the comedian.
Main opposition Republica People Party’s (CHP) reinstated leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu also came to the courthouse to express his support. However, he was booed by some members of the crowd gathered outside the courthouse.
