Turkey jails comedian and rapper over joke deemed offensive to Islam

Turkey jailed two men pending trial after prosecutors said their online show included a joke referencing a hadith or teaching of the Prophet Muhammad, which they allege could incite religious hatred.

An Istanbul court ordered the detention of YouTuber Bogac Soydemir, host of the program “Soguk Savas,” and his guest Enes Akgunduz, a rapper, after authorities said the show featured a quip about the hadith “wine is the mother of all evil.”

Prosecutors argued the remark risked stirring hostility on religious grounds.

Both men apologized after the broadcast and denied wrongdoing when they appeared in court.

Soydemir said he had no intention of provoking hatred, adding that he removed the video once alerted to the issue and apologized on his social media accounts. He said the remark was a viewer comment he read on air, which he mistook for wordplay.

Akgunduz also rejected any suggestion of deliberate offence and said their conversation had been misinterpreted.

The case follows the jailing of four cartoonists from the satirical weekly Leman over a cartoon deemed to depict Prophets Muhammad and Moses, which President Tayyip Erdogan described as a “vile provocation.”