A Turkish court has fined veteran Turkish actor İlyas Salman 7,000 lira for insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in a 2022 interview, the latest in a long line of prosecutions under a controversial law, the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) reported on Tuesday.
The İstanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance handed down the sentence on Monday after finding Salman, 74, guilty of violating Article 299 of the Turkish Penal Code, which criminalizes insults against the president.
The charges stem from an August 1, 2022, interview with the BirGün daily in which Salman said, “I don’t consider Erdoğan worthy of the presidency. He’s a cheap man. I know I’ll end up in court for this.”
Erdoğan’s lawyer, Ahmet Özel, filed a complaint following the remarks, prompting a criminal case against Salman. During Monday’s hearing — the sixth in the trial — Salman did not appear in court, but his lawyer, Selen Sınmaz, was present, as was Erdoğan’s lawyer, Melih Tüfenkçi.
The prosecution reiterated its earlier opinion, first submitted on November 5, 2024, stating that Salman’s comments were “insulting and degrading” and requested his conviction under Article 299. The court sided with the prosecutor and imposed a monetary fine.
Thousands of people in Turkey are under investigation, with most of them under threat of imprisonment, over alleged insults of Erdoğan. Whoever insults the president can face up to four years in prison, a sentence that can be increased if the crime was committed through the mass media.
Salman has starred in dozens of Turkish films in addition to being a director, author, screenwriter and musician.