Turkish cartoonist Öznur Kalender (Instagram - FB) was arrested on charges of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in a cartoon, according to media reports including Halk TV.
Kalender announced on his Facebook account that he had been arrested and taken to a police station for questioning.
The famous cartoonist Öznur Kalender told it like this on 16 February(1),(2):
"At this moment, I have been detained at Ankara train station and am being taken for a statement...".
He was subsequently taken to court to give evidence before a prosecutor and is understood to have been released pending trial, if the charge is upheld.
The arrest was prompted by a Christmas cartoon in which Kalender depicted himself as Father Christmas carrying a sack full of faces of prominent figures in media, sports, entertainment and politics, including President Erdoğan.
On a sandwich, the Father Christmas figure says:
"We're saying goodbye to the unfortunate year 2025, but we haven't been able to get rid of these yet. What do you think we should do with them?".
Two days after giving his statement, on 18 February, the cartoonist posted this message on his Facebook account:
"A cartoonist is a revolutionary, being a cartoonist requires fists and heart.
Imperialists, fascists, traitors, thieves and scoundrels hate the cartoonists...".
Kalender had already been tried in April 2021 for three caricatures of Erdoğan, accused of insulting the president, but a court acquitted him. Be that as it may, Erdogan has a long-standing and serious problem with cartoons. He tends to persecute them relentlessly.
In Turkey, thousands of people are investigated, prosecuted or convicted for insulting the president, which is a criminal offence under Article 299 of the Turkish Penal Code. Anyone who insults the president can face up to four years in prison, which can be increased if the offence is committed through the media.
The law has been criticised by human rights and press freedom advocates, claiming that it is used to prosecute journalists, politicians and ordinary citizens for expressing critical views of the president or even indirectly satirising him.
In 2021, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the law should be amended or repealed, stating that granting special protection to the president stifles public debate and blocks dissent.
International human rights organisations have also repeatedly urged the Turkish government to revise the law, which they consider incompatible with democratic norms and international standards of freedom of expression.(3)
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.
