Cartooning for Peace, citing data from the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA), an organisation that provides legal assistance to people on trial for reasons related to their professional activity, in particular journalists, has updated the status of the legal proceedings against Turkish cartoonist Doğan Pehlevan, who was released in November 2025 but was still accused of "insulting the president".
On 24 March 2026, the third hearing on this charge was held in Istanbul at Istanbul Criminal Court of First Instance No. 36, a criminal court of first instance in the Turkish judicial system. The cartoonist is accused of posting insulting comments about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on the social networking site X. Doğan Pehlevan denies that he is neither the owner of the account in question nor the author of the posts associated with it.
Finally, the court lifted the defendant's obligation to report to the authorities every week, but maintained the ban on leaving the country. The prosecutor requested new expert reports from the computer crime department on the X account that is the subject of the proceedings. The hearing was also adjourned until 14 July 2026.
The cartoonist is also implicated in another case from June 2025, along with five members of the editorial team of the satirical magazine Leman for a cartoon depicting Mohammed and Moses. They are charged with "inciting hatred and hostility" and the hearing is scheduled for 5 May 2026.
Given the lengthy legal proceedings in Turkey, it is more than likely that Pehlevan 's case will take a long time. For example, the cartoonist Zehra Ömeroglu was acquitted of an "obscenity" offence after a five-year long judicial process marked by continuous adjournments.
Humour in trouble, a collection of cases
Cases of cartoonists who have had problems of some importance because of their cartoons or satirical illustrations. There are also some stories of other people who, without being cartoonists, have got into trouble for sharing them.
