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Agence France-Presse

A court in Turkey’s southern resort city of Antalya has handed a Turkish man a suspended jail sentence of more than one year for ­comparing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to The Lord of the Rings character Gollum, a report said on Thursday.
The man, Rifat Cetin, had in 2014 while Erdogan was still prime minister posted three pictures on his Facebook account comparing Erdogan to Gollum, a thin, pale, wretched creature torn between good and evil.

The court convicted Cetin of insulting Erdogan and sentenced him to one year and 15 days in prison but suspended the sentence for five years, the BirGun daily reported on its website. There was no official confirmation of the sentence.
Without specifying further, the report said Cetin had been stripped of his parental rights. He said he would appeal on the grounds of the fact he was ­convicted of insulting the president although Erdogan had been premier at the time.

This case had previously not been publicised and is separate from another widely publicised investigation also involving Erdogan and Gollum.
A doctor in the western province of Aydin, Bilgin Ciftci, is facing up to two years in jail for “insulting” the president after sharing images of Erdogan and Gollum. There have so far been no reports of an outcome in that case.
The cases come amid growing concern over the spiralling numbers of journalists, bloggers and ordinary people being taken to court on charges of insulting Erdogan and other top officials.
As PM exits, Erdogan tightens his grip on power in Turkey
The United States, for example, has expressed deep concern about basic freedoms in Turkey after the arrest of three free speech activists.
Reporters Without Borders Turkey representative Erol Onderoglu, journalist Ahmet Nesin and rights activist Sebnem Korur Fincanci were charged on Monday with “terrorist propaganda”.
The three took part in a campaign by the daily Ozgur Gundem for prominent figures to guest edit the newspaper on a daily basis in a show of solidarity against the erosion of press freedoms.


Turkish man given suspended jail term for comparing president to a Tolkien character

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan (centre) and former president Abdullah Gul (right) at funeral in Istanbul. Photo: Reuters

TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY STUART WILLIAMS (FILES) This file photo taken on October 05, 2015 shows Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addressing a brief statement as he arrives to meet with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker (unseen) at the European Commission in Brussels, on October 5, 2015. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has suggested Turkey could hold a referendum over whether to continue its long-stalled accession process to join the European Union. / AFP PHOTO / Emmanuel DUNAND

This publicity file photo released by Warner Bros., shows the character Gollum, voiced by Andy Serkis, in a scene from the fantasy adventure "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey." (AP Photo/Warner Bros., File)

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