A Turkish court ordered the release under judicial supervision of Doğan Pehlevan, a satirical cartoonist for LeMan magazine. He is the sole defendant in the investigation into his alleged depiction of Muhammad and Moses in a cartoon. However, according to the daily Cumhuriyet, Pehlevan will not be released because he is still accused of "insulting the president".
The events date back to 26 June, when the Turkish satirical magazine LeMan published a cartoon in which a character, floating amidst rubble and bombs, shakes hands with another character and says:'Salam aleykum, I am Mohammed', who replies:'Aleykum salam, I am Musa (Moses)'.
The public prosecutor's office seized copies of the issue containing the cartoon and the LeMan website is no longer accessible. Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc and President Tayyip Erdogan himself have criticised and denounced the cartoon.
Erdogan said:"It is a clear incitement disguised as humour, a vile provocation.
Indeed, our security and judicial services acted immediately against this hate crime.
Turkish police clashed with protesters after the prosecutor ordered arrests at LeMan magazine, whose editor-in-chief denied the accusation and said that the image has been deliberately misinterpreted and that the character represents an ordinary Muslim.
In clashes in Istanbul, police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse a crowd following allegations that the satirical magazine LeMan had published a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad.
Following the publication of these cartoons, on 30 June, the Istanbul public prosecutor's office opened a judicial investigation against several members of the Leman magazine team, who were arrested, for "denigrating religious values". Those under investigation were cartoonist Doğan Pehlevan, who drew the cartoon of discord, identified by the initials D.P., editor-in-chief Zafer Aknar, graphic designer Cebrail Okcu, and editorial director Ali Yavuz, who were arrested the same day. Arrest warrants were issued for Tuncay Akgün, co-founder and former editor-in-chief of LeMan, and Aslan Ozdemi, editor-in-chief, both of whom were abroad at the time.
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.
