Turkey: Comedian convicted for 'insulting' Erdogan in show

A Turkish comedian was convicted in Istanbul on Monday on charges of "insulting" President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and "insulting religious values" during a stand-up performance in June.

The judge provisionally sentenced Deniz Goktas to 19 months in prison, but ordered his release pending the judicial review and appeal process that would finalized the verdict.

It was not immediately clear how long this process might take.

NATO member and EU aspirant Turkey routinely tries people on speech-related offenses, particularly and famously when it comes to supposed "insults" of its longserving leader Erdogan.

Deniz Goktas, 32, was arrested on July 3 , a week after releasing a YouTube video of his show that was watched nearly 9 million times and a few days after shorter clips he posted on X enjoyed similar rapid success.

He faced an array of charges related to content in his "Dead Sea" show. Goktas referred to his impending court appointment online on Sunday, in one of his irreverent social media posts from his cell.

Goktas was accused of insulting Erdogan, of inciting public hatred and hostility — via jokes about Islam — and of praising crime and criminals, an additional charge added by prosecutors tied to a joke about an organized crime family, the Daltons

His trial is the latest in a widening crackdown on people seen as critical of Turkey's moderate Islamist government. Hundreds of politicians , artists, musicians, journalists and LGBTQ activists are among those to face detention or trial.