Deniz Göktaş ordered released after Istanbul court convicts comedian

An Istanbul court convicted Turkish comedian Deniz Göktaş on Monday, September 28, of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and religious values, but ordered his release after nearly three months in custody. His sentence is subject to appeal, and the available reports did not confirm that he had physically left prison.

The two prison terms total just over 19 months. The BBC reported that the court ordered Göktaş's release because of time he had already served and imposed a ban on travel outside Turkey. AFP, whose reporter was in court, described the order as an interim release pending appeal; it said the sentence will become final only after an appeals court reviews it.

What the court decided

Turkish news agency DHA reported a sentence of 11 months and 20 days for insulting the president and a further seven months and 15 days for insulting religious values. It reported that the court acquitted Göktaş of praising crime and criminals. AFP said the judge amended an incitement charge to one of insulting religious values before convicting him on that count.

The hearing took place before Istanbul's 14th Criminal Court of First Instance, DHA reported. Because its usual courtroom lacked capacity, the proceedings were held in a courtroom belonging to the 4th Heavy Penal Court. DHA said the indictment had sought a prison term ranging from two years and seven months to 12 years, far longer than the terms the court imposed.

The show and his defence

The case arose from material in Göktaş's stand-up show Dead Sea, which drew attention online before his arrest. AFP reported that he was arrested on July 3 and had spent nearly three months at Karatepe high-security prison. The BBC reported that he had spent 88 days in solitary confinement. Those accounts describe the period already spent in custody, not a final outcome on appeal.

Prosecutors singled out a line in which Göktaş called Erdoğan “a shy dictator,” AFP reported. Göktaş denied that his words were criminal. “Dictator is not an insult: it is a political characterisation,” he told the court, according to AFP. His defence treated the line as political satire; the court's conviction shows it did not accept his position on the presidential-insult charge.

Göktaş argued in court that a comedy show about politics could hardly avoid the president, who also leads the governing party. He said Erdoğan should be open to satire and rejected the accusations against him. DHA's account of his defence also recorded his objection that passages cited in the indictment had been stripped of context, including material relating to the religious-values charge. Those were Göktaş's arguments, rather than findings by the court.

He also contrasted his prosecution with what he described as a more tolerant past for political comedians. “The laws protecting freedom of expression have not changed since that time. But today, a comedian is sitting in a cell,” AFP quoted him as saying. In another exchange reported by AFP and the BBC, he joked that although three months had been taken from his life, quitting smoking might add three months to it. Both outlets reported laughter in the courtroom.

Supporters and the wider law

Supporters gathered outside the courthouse. AFP estimated that about 50 protesters were there and reported that they carried signs saying Göktaş was not alone. The BBC quoted fellow comedian Firat Aksal as saying supporters were thrilled by the verdict and had not expected a fair trial. Aksal said he expected Göktaş to rest, see his family and return to the stage; those were his expectations, not confirmed plans carried out after the hearing.

The presidential-insult conviction falls under a law that has drawn sustained criticism from rights groups. Human Rights Watch wrote in May 2025 that Article 299 of Turkey's penal code makes insulting the president a criminal offence carrying a possible sentence of up to four years. That is the general statutory maximum described by the group, rather than an explanation of the two terms imposed on Göktaş.

Human Rights Watch said the European Court of Human Rights had repeatedly found violations of freedom of expression in prosecutions under the offence and had ruled in 2021 that it should be amended. Citing the latest figures then available, the group said more than 11,000 people were prosecuted for insulting the president in 2021. That figure describes 2021 prosecutions, not a current annual count or a measure of cases like Göktaş's.