Turkey: Popular singer acquitted of anti-military remarks
Singer and tv host Bülent Ersoy has been acquitted of charges against her for having made anti-military remarks during a tv programme broadcasted on 24 February 2008.
Bülent Ersoy was charged with “alienating people from military service” over her remarks at the show Popstar Alaturka where she was a juror. Ersoy said “If I had a son; some people will make a decision around a table and will say ´You will do this and they will do that´, and I will bury my child. This won’t happen.”
Bakırköy public prosecutor Ali Çakır wanted Bülent Ersoy to be imprisoned for up to three years. Military service is obligatory for men over the age of 20 in Turkey, and it is a crime to speak against it.
Bülent Ersoy was acquitted at a hearing at The 18th Criminal Court of First Instance on 18 December 2008. At the end of the hearing, the presiding judge Ülker Kirazcı ruled that Bülent Ersoy’s remarks were personal thoughts she had expressed in line with her right to freedom of speech and thought.
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