Artist Dickinson Sentenced for "Insult of the Prime Minister"

British collage artist Michael Dickinson was convicted after the Court of Appeals overruled the initial decision for his acquittal. Dickinson had been detained for a while because he had depicted President Recep Tayyıp Erdoğan as the pet dog of former US President Geroge W. Bush in one of his collages. He received a prison sentence which was converted into a monetary fine.

Dickinson has been living in Turkey for 23 years and was faculty member of Yeditepe University (Istanbul).  It was published that the artist left Turkey after the Court of Appeals of the 4^th Circuit's decision of reversal.

The British artist is the Istanbul representative of the "Stuckism" art movement which originated from Britain in 1999 to promote figurative painting in opposition to conceptual art. The case was filed with several representatives of an exhibition held by the Global Peace and Justice Coalition (Küresel BAK) on 11 March 2006 to protest the Iraq invasion.

The court of appeals said in the decision of reversal taken unanimously on 25 May 2009: "It is understood that the defendant is an English citizen who has been living in Turkey for 20 years and worked as a teacher at various educational institutes and universities. He had close experiences of Turkish customs and traditions and he was able to anticipate the affect of his action on the public".

Monetary fine

As reported by Ntvmsnbc.com, upon the decision of reversal the Kadıköy (Istanbul) 2^nd Magistrate Criminal Court sentenced Dickinson to imprisonment of 425 days according to article 125 of the Turkish Criminal Court (TCK). He was charged with having insulted the Prime Minister in his absence by reason of his duty. The court ruled that Dickinson disregarded Erdoğan's "pride and dignity".

The sentence imposed on the collage artist was converted into a monetary fine.

"If I had drawn Brown, I would not have experienced that fear"

After the hearing Dickinson told the BBC: "Of course I am relieved. I did not know the outcome. But I still think that I am not guilty and I cannot say that my work will not be related to politicians in the future".

"I like it here. I like the food and the weather. But if I had drawn a caricature about Brown in England, at least I would not have had to fear imprisonment".

After the hearing in January Dickinson was quoted as saying, "If the judge imposes a monetary fine on me, I will tell him that I am not going to pay it in order to express my protest against such an attack of freedom of expression. I do not want to go to prison but this is the only alternative I have". (EÖ/VK)