“Fag” Tweet Fined

Levent Pişkin, an LGBTI activist, has been ordered to pay 1,500 liras in compensation for 2 months and 15 days of prison sentence for insulting PM Erdoğan.  

The LGBTI activist Levent Pişkin sent the following tweet: “I am expecting a declaration from Erdoğan as ‘I’m a perfect queer and we are not going to learn being queer from you’. Kisses.#AnayasadaLGBT.” 

The tweet came as a response to PM’s previous declaration “If Alevilik (alawism) is about loving Ali, I’m a perfect Alevi”. 

Today, in the second session of the case Pişkin, the attorney of Erdoğan, demanded a punishment due to "insult and slander to the public official for his/her civil service and grievous provocation”. 

The court penalized Pişkin with the limit penalty for the offense (125/2) of insulting by written text. Pişkin was fined 1500 liras as equivalent to 2 months 15 days imprisonment and the announcement of the verdict was adjourned.

Attorney Tora Pekin told bianet that the aforementioned tweet is not a crime factor or an insulting phrase, and they will appeal to the Supreme Court.

"He goes off on a tangent to gain favor,” said the attorney of PM. “We don’t interest in the gender identity of the defendant. Also even if he considers the word ‘queer’ as a sexual preference, it does not prove that he didn’t use the word for insulting.  We demand a punishment,” she added.

* Click here to read the article in Turkish.