Turkey’s Court of Cassation, also called Supreme Court of Appeals of Turkey, has recently upheld the 13-and-a-half-month prison sentence imposed by a local court on the prominent Armenian writer Sevan Nişanyan for his “offensive” statements about Islam’s prophet Muhammad, the Turkish news website Diken reported.
According to the Turkish criminal code, for one to be legally given a sentence for “publicly degrading religious values”, one’s act should be deemed by a court “capable of disturbing public peace”. In its ruling, the Court stated:
“These are not crimes of harm. These are crimes of danger. Hence, the possibility of public peace to be disrupted is enough for the defendant’s act to constitute a crime. There is no need for a clear and competent danger for the public peace to be disrupted.”
The Supreme Court of Appeals added that the conviction given to Nişanyan for “degrading the religious values of a section of the public” was in accordance with the law:
“The defendant publicly used words about the Prophet of Islam, Muhammed, [pbuh] that degraded his dignity [in the eyes of] the religious community and that could lead to public indignation. Through these statements, the defendant aimed to discredit the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and used his statements to turn Islam’s prophet into a person that is no longer respected and admired. This situation has provoked justified anger in the believers of Islam.
“As a matter of fact, anger against the defendant has occurred in the public and in media outlets as was manifested by many people who expressed their anger against the defendant on his blog website. According to the ECHR [European Court of Human Rights], when it comes to religious views and beliefs, it is necessary to avoid statements that do not contribute to public debate and that some can see as a cheap attack.”
That is, Nişanyan’s prison sentence has been upheld not because he has committed a violent crime or incited people to violence, but because he supposedly “created a possibility of public peace being breached”.
One member of the Court of Cassation, however, opposed the upholding of the prison sentence, saying, in part:
“To interpret discussing a subject in the media as ‘disrupting the peace of the public’ means criminalizing every discussion that enables the public to get informed and progress.
“There has been no unrest or indignation within the society and no concrete phenomenon that breaches the peace of the public [due to Nişanyan’s writings].
“The defendant publicly humiliated the religious values of the people in his writings on his social media website and these writings did not remain within the context of freedom of expression. However, these writings are not eligible to disrupt the public peace and there is no objective condition for punishment. Hence, it is not legally possible to punish the defendant according to the relevant legal regulation.”
Nişanyan is a public intellectual from Turkey’s Armenian minority who is well-known for his writings on various issues such as history, linguistics, religion and politics.
His “crime”? In a piece he published on his own blog website on September 29, 2012, he wrote, in part:
“Mocking an Arab leader — who claimed that he contacted God hundreds of years ago and who gained political, financial and sexual profit from this — is not a hate crime. Almost at the level of kindergarten, it is a test case of the thing called ‘freedom of expression’.”
For these words, Nişanyan was charged under Article 216/3 of the Turkish Penal Code. In 2013, an Istanbul court found him guilty and he was sentenced to 13-and-a-half-month in prison for religious defamation.
Turkish authorities also used Nişanyan’s construction work in Turkey as an “excuse” to go after him for supposedly non-political reasons. For it might have been too “costly” for Turkey, a candidate for European Union (EU) membership, to imprison yet another – and this time, an Armenian – intellectual solely for his religious or political views. Instead, Nişanyan was handed a cumulative jail sentence of 17 years mostly over charges of illegal construction and arrested in 2014.
“Nişanyan,” human rights lawyer, Orhan Kemal Cengiz wrote in 2014, “is being punished for doing illegal construction on his land in Turkey, which is a haven for illegal construction, and is now incarcerated at Izmir-Torbali prison. Moreover, instead of being awarded a Nobel Prize for architecture for what he has created in Shirince, he faces about 50 years in prison terms for 17 cases brought against him. In fact, everybody knows that the case against Nişanyan has nothing to do with construction infractions. He is being punished for his history and literary work challenging the official ideology.”
In line with this assessment, Pen International reported in 2015:
“One of the biggest controversies in which Nişanyan has been involved relates to a blog post he made in September 2012. Writing in his personal blog, Nişanyan criticised the government’s call to introduce a new ‘hate speech’ bill in response to the release of the film The Innocence of Muslims. The film led to widespread protests around the world as a result of its unflattering depiction of the prophet Muhammad. Writing in defence of the right to freedom of expression, Nişanyan criticised the government’s attempts to prohibit criticism of the historical Muhammad.”
The same report included an interview that Nişanyan gave to Pen International – while he was still in prison for a year. He said, in part:
“The blog piece for which I was prosecuted and convicted argued simply that disrespectful speech about an ancient Arab leader – implying the prophet of Islam – was a matter of free speech that should be under the protection of law. It employed mildly disrespectful language about the prophet to illustrate the point.
“As a result I was attacked in vile language by a government minister, a top aide to the then prime minister, and the top religious official of the country; several newspapers launched a lynching campaign; I received hundreds of death threats; I was prosecuted in about a dozen courts around the country; and I was sentenced to 15.5 months in jail for blasphemy.
“I believe this country, as well as the world at large, urgently needs a serious debate about the role of Islam in modern society. But that debate is impossible if every phrase that is contrary to the beliefs, prejudices, habits or sensitivities of the self-appointed spokesmen of Islam is going to be banned or prosecuted or greeted with paroxysms of rage.”
It is true. The debate is impossible in Muslim countries like Turkey – in July of 2017, Nişanyan finally escaped from prison and arrived in Greece, where he was granted asylum. To this day, he continues writing and speaking about Turkey and international issues.
But in Europe too, it is getting increasingly difficult to engage in free debate. Islam’s blasphemy laws appear to haunt the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg, France, as well. In March of 2019, for instance, a conviction against an Austrian woman, Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff, was upheld by the ECHR for having noted to a small private group that Mohammad married Aisha when she was six years old (Sahih-Bukhari, Vol. 5, Book 58, Nos. 234–236), although waited until she was 9 years old to consummate the marriage.
Sadly, a major problem that suffocates free speech is that the violent silencing of critics is sanctioned by Islamic scriptures. According to the Quran and the recorded sayings (hadith) and biographies (sira) of Islam’s founder, “To leave Islam, to insult Muhammad or Allah, to deny the existence of Allah, to be sarcastic about Allah’s name, to deny any verse of the Quran” or to commit other acts of blasphemy are all punishable by death. Apparently, the “moderate” version of this Islamic law is not to immediately murder, but to arrest the critics of Islam.
Islamic scriptures’ intolerant stance on free expression and criticism is clear. But Turkey is not ruled according to Islamic Sharia law. Neither is the ECHR. Or are they?
Uzay Bulut is a Turkish journalist and political analyst formerly based in Ankara.
Jim says
Ah ha! So we now I see why non-Muslims get into trouble for criticizing Islam, while Muslims don’t get into trouble for criticizing any other religion — in order for someone to be guilty of “criticizing another religion”, it has to have resulted in a public disturbance. Since Muslims are pretty much the only ones who violently protest when you say anything about their “religion”, Islam is the only “religion” which receives such protection.
Jim says
Sadly, Europe is also enforcing this key aspect of Sharia law onto the people of Europe:
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/european-court-upholds-conviction-of-woman-who-condemned-muhammads-marriage-to-6-year-old
And the more Muslims there are in Europe, the more “public disturbance” there will be.
mortimer says
Reply to Jim: yes, Europe has not blasphemy law to defend Christianity or Jesus, but they impose blasphemy rules to stop anyone from criticizing Mohammed.
That makes Islam superior to Christianity in Europe.
elee says
+1. Turkeys membership in NATO should be downgraded to a very strict probationary status with clear and explicit guidance on changes necessary to maintain membership. I dont want my taxes supporting this regime.
Michael Copeland says
“Mocking an Arab leader…..”
Alas for Nisanyan, this is not quite accurate. “Depicting and Arab leader” is what the film “Innocence of Muslims” does. Every action portrayed follows scrupulously the record in Islam’s sources. Nothing was invented, and no mocking was involved (or needed).
Usama Dakdok, Arabic-speaking Coptic Egyptian, has made a youtube video documenting each scene, showing its source.
“Innocence of Muslims” is a depiction (albeit low-budget), not a satire.
gravenimage says
Michael, it doesn’t matter if what Infidels say about Islam is true or not. Just presenting it in a less than lauditory light is enough.
FYI says
At least he didn’t say what Ubaydullah said about muhammed when he saw him.
ABU DAWUD 40:4731
“This muhmmed of yours is fat and a dwarf”
How dare ubaydullah insult the “prophet”!
I’m sorry, but while these words are present in ABU DAWUD 40:4731 it is simply not acceptable in today’s “woke” politically correct world to describe someone as thus :especially when he is described as the PERFECT man.It’s hate speech isn’t it?
It’s probably islamophobic too as it not flattering of muhammed?
So what if muhammed wasn’t tall or gifted with the looks of an Adonis or the athletic build of a Athlete?
I mean nobody’s perfect,we can’t ALL be perfect:well, except of course muhammed as he was the PERFECT man wasn’t he{..although perhaps not in physique..or looks…..}?
Shame on Old Ubaydullah!
We here at JW will not stand for people making disparaging remarks about the most perfect man that ever lived,muhammed……even though such embarrassing facts come from islamic sources.
{muslims hate Abu Dawud 40;4731 and ..al tabari 6;111(muhammed admits to being a fraud)their own sources ridicule Perfect Mo}
FYI says
Abu Dawud 40:4731
{infidel amplification and elaboration:what ubaydullah saw..}
“THAT?.THAT’s the “perfect man”,the prophet muhammed??
I..I ..heard he was 8 feet tall with the mighty physique of a Hercules.
Those cartoons of muhammed were all wrong!
Let me guess:his winged FLYING HORSE with a woman’s face ,buraq:that was just made up by muhammed?”
gravenimage says
FYI wrote:
At least he didn’t say what Ubaydullah said about muhammed when he saw him.
ABU DAWUD 40:4731
“This muhmmed of yours is fat and a dwarf”
How dare ubaydullah insult the “prophet”!
I’m sorry, but while these words are present in ABU DAWUD 40:4731 it is simply not acceptable in today’s “woke” politically correct world to describe someone as thus :especially when he is described as the PERFECT man.It’s hate speech isn’t it?
……………………
This is not just the case today, FYI. Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad was slain, in large part for his not showing respect to the vicious “Prophet” Muhammed. Muslims have always been like this.
FYI says
I admire Ubayd for his honesty.And to be honest I was being kinda sarcastic when I said “How dare Ubaydullah insult the “prophet”..the way people pretend to get all offended at anything these days.
Here is a heroine of mine.
Surely a Jewish martyr.
Zaynab Bint Al Harith:the captured Jewish woman who prepared that delicious poisoned roast meat that resulted in muhammed’s death.
That was pretty ingenious.
muhammed{pbuh,(actual)Prophecy Be Unknown to him},the misogynistic,chauvinist bigot famously said that the reason the koran insists women are worth only HALF that of a man is due{k2:282}”to the deficiency of the woman’s mind”.
muhammed ,who cursed the Jews,stole from them{at Khybar} and mass murdered them{Abu Dawud 4390}and we see that the worst possible death happened to him and administered by…a JEWISH WOMAN.
{Deuteronomy 18 v 20 {regarding false prophets}he must die for it and so must any prophet who speak in the name of false gods”
So it seems the Actual God YHWH took out muhammed as he was false and allah the Arab god couldn’t save his “prophet”}
muhammed didn’t get to die in battle,was exposed as a false prophet by a JEWISH WOMAN when he FAILED the Poison Test, and he didn’t see THAT coming,perhaps since he believed women had deficient minds.
What makes me laugh about muhammed is that despite being warned by the leg of meat that the meat was poisoned he proceeded to eat it anyway in the mistaken belief that allah would protect him, for if he died it meant he was a FALSE prophet.
It is as if he couldn’t believe he might be a false prophet.This is indicated when he said to Aisha “I feel as if my throat has been cut”
So what happened to muhammed?
He died.
see
You Tube
Acts17 apologetics who killed muhammed?
{it just cracks me up every time..}
Westman says
Two illuminating, brilliant, takeaways:
“Mocking an Arab leader — who claimed that he contacted God hundreds of years ago and who gained political, financial and sexual profit from this — is not a hate crime. Almost at the level of kindergarten, it is a test case of the thing called ‘freedom of expression’.”
“…every phrase that is contrary to the beliefs, prejudices, habits or sensitivities of the self-appointed spokesmen of Islam is going to be banned or prosecuted or greeted with paroxysms of rage.”
— Sevan Nişanyan
Could we have more of his writing on JW?
jca reid says
The lunacy in the Islamic World is going to drag the entire world into a morass bringing forth massive death & destruction. They are in complete denial & the supine compliance of the West is incredible. Stating simple FACTS are banned!! The sacred Islamic Texts clearly state his conduct. Carl Jung, the psycho-analyst, stated back in the 1930’s, that Hitler was simply a modern day Mohammed! Islam is so weak it simply cannot stand up to the briefest of scrutiny.
mortimer says
I am sure that, as an intellectual and writer, Sevan Nişanyan has never advocated violence nor organized a mob to disturb the peace and threaten others.
His crime is to use a keyboard to discuss political ideas.
Sevan Nişanyan has merely said what 80% of the world’s population says, namely, that Mohammed is not a valid prophet for a number of reasons.
Muslims in their turn say that all other religions are not valid religions. Who is a bigger bigot, then?
The court is saying in effect that no one may criticize any religion in Turkey. That would apply to all Muslims in Turkey and in effect it could become illegal to quote about 60% of the Koran which ‘DEGRADES’ and slanders people of other religions.
Kilauea says
Does NATO require any type of behavior for its member countries? Erdogan seems to be oppressing human rights in Turkey in addition to courting the Russians.
seabird says
There are requirements for entry into NATO including freedom of religion and an equitable judicial system but those requirements were waived to allow Turkey to join
and now we are seeing the problems with that decision.
Westman says
The signs of Islam faltering are everywhere. Its brutal ascension up a ladder of success has placed it upon the wrong modern wall.
Documenting the life of a murderous brute within its scriptures while claiming his perfection will never be accepted in a modern world that has freed itself from physical and mental slavery.
Muslims are mentally enslaved in a system of incompetence and failure that no longer has superior physical war-making ability. The winds of change are blowing mightily on that ladder; the only final direction left for Islam is down.
mortimer says
But Westman, in this case, Islamic supremacism won the case and universal human rights and civil liberties lost.
mortimer says
The Koran should be condemned by the same logic used by the Turkish court. The Koran contains 164 verses that decree bigoted warfare against people of non-Muslim religions. Over 60% of the Koran is filled with the rant that Allah hates people of non-Islamic religions and that he wants Muslims to hate them too.
Does that not ‘degrade’ the value of the KAFIR and the ‘degrade’ the religions of the kafirs?
The Koran should be tried as hate speech against people of other religions by the same Turkish law. Anyone who quotes those bigoted hate-filled jihad verses should be sentenced under Article 216/3 of the Turkish Penal Code.
elee says
If they imprisoned every Turk who ever mocked an Arab there would be more Turks in gaol than out.
Walter Sieruk says
Let us ,as Americans , be sorry for the man in Turkey, for that Muslim nation with its Islamic oppression to freedom of speech.
By contrast as America we have the US Constitution which included the first amendment which give us freedom of speech .
Any Islamic country that has ,even some, Sharia law based influence then forbids free speech As seen in the above jihadwatch new’s report.
In should also not be forgotten that the USA is ,somewhat of Christian nation and any man or woman is allowed criticize and even mock Jesus and not be sent to prison..
MikeyParks says
The state of Virginia is licking their chops right now as they ready a bill that would make criticizing the Democrats a crime.
gravenimage says
Thanks for the head’s up, Mikey. This would criminalize criticism of elected officials. How could this *possibly* be legal in a democracy? It would in essence also make it virtually impossible to run against any incumbent:
“Virginia Democrats push legislation to make criticism of government officials a criminal offense”
https://deepclips.com/clip/3777/virginia-democrats-push-legislation-to-make-criticism-of-government-officials-a-criminal-offense
They say this is about threats and harassment, but those things are *already* illegal, and do not just apply to elected officials.
LR says
Well, at least all the folks living outside of Virginia can feel free to send all the criticisms they want to these stupid ‘Stalinistas’, as I call them.
Have at it. They deserve all the criticism anyone can give them.
James Lincoln says
MikeyParks,
At first I chuckled after reading your post, thinking that it was supposed to be a humorous statement.
I stopped laughing after I clicked on the link supplied by gravenimage…
gravenimage says
James, I wondered if there was anything to what Mikey has to say myself at first–I had to look it up. Just crazy.
SAFI says
Erdogan to the rescue of child rapists. Islamic child brides finally to be legalized in Turkey
https://ahvalnews.com/women/turkey-debate-marriage-amnesty-child-abusers
gravenimage says
*Hideous*, SAFI. This would reward child rapists, and allow them to continue their abuse of the child. Numerous other Islamic sh*tholes already have such laws.
gravenimage says
Turkey: Supreme Court of Appeals upholds prison sentence for Armenian writer for criticizing Islam’s prophet
………………………..
Why are these thugs still in NATO?
And note that Turkey is *still* persecuting Armenians, a hundred years after most of them were slaughtered in the Armenian Genocide.
More:
“These are not crimes of harm. These are crimes of danger. Hence, the possibility of public peace to be disrupted is enough for the defendant’s act to constitute a crime. There is no need for a clear and competent danger for the public peace to be disrupted.”
………………………..
In other words, Sevarin Nişanyan is not violent, but rioting Muslims might be.
This is, in fact, the *same basis* on which Anti-Jihadists are being censored in the West.
More:
The Supreme Court of Appeals added that the conviction given to Nişanyan for “degrading the religious values of a section of the public” was in accordance with the law
………………………..
If Muslims criticized or mocked Christianity or Judaism, would this be considered a crime in Turkey? Of course not; denigrating other faiths is a core part of Islam itself. So these laws *only* apply to Islam.’
More:
One member of the Court of Cassation, however, opposed the upholding of the prison sentence, saying, in part:
“To interpret discussing a subject in the media as ‘disrupting the peace of the public’ means criminalizing every discussion that enables the public to get informed and progress.
………………………..
This member of the court is right. Doesn’t he realize, though, that this is the purpose of this law to begin with?
More:
“Mocking an Arab leader — who claimed that he contacted God hundreds of years ago and who gained political, financial and sexual profit from this — is not a hate crime. Almost at the level of kindergarten, it is a test case of the thing called ‘freedom of expression’.”
………………………..
Note that Nişanyan didn’t even directly mock the “Prophet” himself–he merely noted that such mocking was not a hate crime. Even this was enough to get him imprisoned.
And it looks as though he is facing more charges–likely life in prison, all for non-violent, victimless “crimes”. How *dare* a dhimmi exercise freedom of speech?
James Lincoln says
gravenimage,
Excellent – and accurate – analysis, my compliments.
elee says
What Mr. Lincoln said. Oh and…….the nastiest and most scurrilous expressions of hatred toward the countrys 20% Alawi (Shia Alevi) population is pumped out daily everywhere in the Turkish press. The law protects everybodys religion equally. but of course Sunni Islam is more equal than the others. Then there was that ugly business at Sivas…….
gravenimage says
Thank you, James and elee.
And elee, you are quite right–not only is it just Islam that is protected; minority Muslim sects are fair game as well.
jca reid says
Stating the TRUTH is now a Revolutionary Act!