26.09.2025 16:20
As part of the investigation initiated due to the cartoon published in Leman magazine, the editor-in-chief Zafer Aknar, graphic designer Cebrail Okçu, and the institution's director Ali Yavuz were released under judicial control by the heavy penal court upon appeal.
On June 26, 2025, an investigation was initiated by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office regarding the publication of caricatures of Prophet Muhammad and Prophet Moses in the Leman magazine, on the grounds of publicly insulting religious values. As part of the investigation, a detention order was issued for 6 suspects, including the magazine's owner and editor-in-chief, the managing editor, the institution director, graphic designers, and the person who drew the caricature, on the charge of 'inciting hatred and hostility in the public or insulting'.
The illustrator Doğan Pehlevan was arrested for 'insulting the president' and 'inciting hatred and hostility in the public or insulting', while the magazine's graphic designer Cebrail Okçu, managing editor Zafer Aknar, managing editor Aslan Özdemir, and institution director Ali Yavuz were arrested by the peace criminal court for the charge of 'inciting hatred and hostility in the public or insulting'.
3 PEOPLE RELEASED
In today's review of the detention, suspects Zafer Aknar, Cebrail Okçu, and Ali Yavuz were released by the heavy criminal court with a judicial control decision upon their objection.