Turkish columnists go on trial over Charlie Hebdo cartoons

Istanbul

Two Turkish newspaper commentators went on trial today for illustrating their columns with a controversial cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed published by French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo.

Ceyda Karan and Hikmet Cetinkaya, writers at the secular Cumhuriyet daily, face up to 4 1/2 years in jail on charges of "inciting public hatred" and "insulting religious values" in connection with the cartoon. 

Karan and Cetinkaya were not present at the first hearing, which was attended by over 100 plaintiffs, most of whom described themselves as readers offended by the columns, Cumhuriyet reported.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's daughter, Sumeyye, his son, Bilal, and his son-in-law Berat Albayrak, a newly-elected lawmaker, also asked to be plaintiffs in the case, their lawyer said.

The prosecution asked the judge to issue an arrest warrant for the two journalists, who said they were out of Istanbul on a work trip.

One plaintiff named Kamil Ozcelik told the court that publishing the cartoon was like "pouring gasoline on a fire" in an overwhelmingly Muslim country.

"If the court does not punish them, let us punish them," another was quoted as saying.

The hearing was adjourned to October 12. Cumhuriyet had published a four-page Charlie Hebdo pull-out translated into Turkish marking the French satirical weekly's first issue since the attack on its Paris offices by Islamist gunmen in January that killed 12 people.