Turkish comedian Deniz Göktaş on trial for insulting President Erdoğan in standup show Deniz Goktas was convicted of two of three charges, including "insulting" the president, but was released pending the appeal process.
✓ Confirmed by 5 independent sources, including Euronews, DW and Folha de S.Paulo.
Deniz Goktas, 32, had been held in prison since July 3 after clips of his routine.
Nominally, Turkey is a secular country with free speech, according to DW. The court heard there were 185 complaints submitted through a reporting system run by Erdogan's office, according to ABC News.
Key figures Arrested: 32 (according to DW) ✓ See how we verified it and its 5 sources✓ How we verified this storyConfirmed 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 — confirmed by: DW, Euronews, Folha de S.Paulo, ABC News Deniz Goktas was convicted of two of three charges, including "insulting" the president, but was released pending the appeal process — confirmed by: DW, Folha de S.Paulo, RFI Turkish comedian Deniz Göktaş on trial for insulting President Erdoğan in standup show — confirmed by: Euronews, DW, Folha de S.Paulo Deniz Goktas, 32, had been held in prison since July 3 after clips of his routine, which included a reference to Erdogan as a “dictator,” were circulated online — confirmed by: ABC News, Folha de S.Paulo Supporters and journalists were also waiting to enter the courtroom, including several fellow comedians from Istanbul's TuzBiber club, and observers from the Dutch embassy and the US consulate — confirmed by: DW, Euronews Hundreds of politicians, artists, musicians, journalists and LGBTQ activists are among those to face detention or trial — confirmed by: DW, Euronews Attributed (not independently confirmed) 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… — DW NATO member and EU aspirant Turkey routinely tries people on speech-related offenses, parituclarly and famously when it comes to supposed "insults" of its longserving leader Erdogan — DW Nominally, Turkey is a secular country with free speech — DW Goktas, who has been held in pretrial detention since July, faces an array of charges related to content in his "Dead Sea" show — DW "After 88 days, I'll be handcuffed for the first time and hear a car horn — DW He faced an array of charges related to content in his "Dead Sea" show — DW This story was checked against 5 independent sources. We only present as fact what reliable sources confirm; everything else is attributed.
Sources This story is based on the following sources. We always link to the original.
Euronews · News outlet · September 28, 2026 at 4:53 AM DW · News outlet · September 28, 2026 at 6:52 AM Folha de S.Paulo · News outlet · September 28, 2026 at 8:55 AM RFI · News outlet · September 28, 2026 at 9:49 AM ABC News · News outlet · September 28, 2026 at 10:50 AM Timeline September 28, 2026 at 4:53 AM — Reported by EuronewsSeptember 28, 2026 at 6:52 AM — Reported by DWSeptember 28, 2026 at 8:55 AM — Reported by Folha de S.PauloSeptember 28, 2026 at 9:49 AM — Reported by RFISeptember 28, 2026 at 10:50 AM — Reported by ABC NewsCorrections and updates Update (September 30, 2026 at 5:25 AM) : New confirmed details added.Update (September 29, 2026 at 2:17 PM) : New confirmed details added.Change history Version 3 · September 30, 2026 at 5:25 AM New confirmed details added.
Version 2 · September 29, 2026 at 2:17 PM New confirmed details added.
Version 1 · September 28, 2026 at 12:44 PM Publicación inicial
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