The İstanbul chief public prosecutor is seeking prison sentences for six staff members of the LeMan satirical magazine over a cartoon in its June 26 issue that allegedly insulted religious values by depicting the prophets Muhammad and Moses, the T24 news website reported.
The indictment calls for prison sentences of up to four-and-a-half years for five staff members on charges of “incitement to hatred and enmity and openly insulting religious values.” Those indicted were graphic designer Cebrail Okçu, managing director Zafer Aknar, manager Ali Yavuz, editor-in-chief Mehmet Tuncay Akgün and managing editor Aslan Özdemir.
Cartoonist Doğan Pehlevan faces a longer sentence of up to seven-and-a-half years in prison for allegedly committing the offense “repeatedly,” with prosecutors citing a November 1, 2024, social media post about Islam as evidence. He is also under a separate investigation for allegedly “insulting the president.”
Five of the defendants were put in pretrial detention, while an arrest warrant was issued for Akgün, who is currently in France.
The case stems from a cartoon in LeMan’s June 26 issue showing two men named Muhammad and Moses greeting each other above a bombed city. The illustration sparked outrage among religious and conservative circles in İstanbul and attracted condemnation from President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and senior government officials.
On June 30 hundreds of angry protesters gathered outside LeMan’s İstanbul headquarters, throwing rocks at the building and prompting police intervention with rubber bullets and tear gas.
Separately, a court ordered the confiscation of LeMan’s June 26 issue and imposed a nationwide ban on access to the magazine’s website and X account.
The magazine said the illustration was a political critique of Israel’s bombing of Gaza, not a depiction of religious figures. Its staff have vigorously denied any link between an illustration published in the magazine and Islam’s Prophet Muhammad.
Press freedom advocates warn that the case illustrates a broader pattern of repression against independent media in Turkey, where journalists often face prosecution for critical reporting or satire.
Turkey ranks 159th out of 180 countries in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index, published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in May.
