Turkish cartoonist Öznur Kalender has been detained on accusations of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in a cartoon, the Halk TV news website reported.
Kalender announced on social media that he had been detained at the Ankara Train Station and taken to a police station for questioning. He was later referred to a courthouse to give a statement to a prosecutor.
The detention stems from a New Year’s Eve-themed cartoon in which Kalender portrayed himself as Santa Claus carrying a sack filled with faces of prominent figures from media, sports, entertainment and politics, including President Erdoğan.
In a speech bubble, the Santa Claus figure says, “We are sending off the ill-fated year 2025, but we still haven’t been able to get rid of these. What do you think we should do with them?”
Kalender previously stood trial in April 2021 over three cartoons about Erdoğan on charges of insulting the president, but a court acquitted him.
In Turkey thousands of people are investigated, prosecuted or convicted of insulting president which is a criminal offense under Article 299 of the Turkish Penal Code. Whoever insults the president can face up to four years in prison, a sentence that can be increased if the crime was committed through the mass media.
The law has been criticized by human rights and press freedom advocates, who say it is used to prosecute journalists, politicians and ordinary citizens for expressing critical views of the president or even satirizing him indirectly.
In 2021 the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the law should be amended or repealed, stating that giving special protection to the president stifles public debate and chills dissent. International human rights organizations have also repeatedly urged the Turkish government to review the law, which they describe incompatible with democratic norms and international free speech standards.
