28.08.2026 21:10
Comedian Deniz Göktaş, who had been detained for about 2 months on charges of 'publicly insulting religious values' and 'insulting the President,' has been released. However, immediately after the release decision, Göktaş was brought before a judge again on charges of 'praising the crime and the criminal' and was re-arrested on grounds of 'flight risk' and 'suspicion of tampering with evidence.' After the objection to this decision was accepted, a new release decision was issued.
Comedian Deniz Göktaş, who has been detained for about 2 months on charges of 'publicly insulting religious values' and 'insulting the President,' was released by the Istanbul Criminal Court of First Instance, which reviewed the objection to his detention.
AFTER THE RELEASE DECISION, HE APPEARED BEFORE THE JUDGE AGAIN
However, following the release decision, Göktaş was brought before the peace criminal judgeship again via SEGBIS, this time on charges of 'praising a crime and the criminal.'
The Istanbul 4th Peace Criminal Judgeship questioned Göktaş about the words he used in his stand-up show "Dead Sea,": "With the revenue from today's second-row ticket sales, we can hire a hitman in Turkey and have a rival comedian killed. That's the current market situation. You write for the Daltons; there's a very corporate communication. You transfer the money via Bitcoin, and they don't even follow up. When they kill, a photo arrives—'That was him, right, bro?' There was his twin, but that was my mistake. You invest again; it's a magnificent system..."
In his defense before the judgeship, Göktaş stated that he had no intention of praising a crime or a criminal, saying, "Turkey is becoming an increasingly deprived country; executives and ministers say the same thing. I am a comedian; I would not do such a thing; it contains purely humorous criticism."
DETAINED AGAIN ON SUSPICION OF 'FLIGHT' AND 'TAMPERING WITH EVIDENCE'
The judgeship decided to detain Göktaş again. The judgeship, evaluating that the statements in question were of a nature that "praised, legitimized, and facilitated the criminal acts of the known criminal group 'Daltonlar Gang'," cited 'flight' and 'suspicion of tampering with evidence' as the grounds for Göktaş's detention.
WHAT HAPPENED?
Deniz Göktaş, against whom an ex officio investigation was launched due to the statements he used in his stand-up show "Dead Sea," was taken into custody at Istanbul Airport upon his return from a trip abroad.
After his procedures at the police station, he was referred to the courthouse, and it was decided to detain him on charges of "publicly insulting religious values" and "insulting the President."