Guy Who Passed Around Image Of Turkish President As Gollum Given Suspended Sentence, Loses Custody Of His Kids

from the it's-not-even-gollum dept

Fri, Jun 24th 2016 2:08pm — Mike Masnick

Remember this image?

That's the meme that was (and still is) passed around on social media (rather gently) mocking Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for looking kinda like Gollum from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Or, not even Gollum, but his nicer alter ego, Smeagol. Last we wrote about this, a Turkish court was assembling an expert panel to determine if that image is insulting to Erdogan. Since then, of course, we've learned just how insanely thin-skinned Erdogan is, having filed an average of over 100 actions against people for insulting him per month (how does he get any actual work done?).

The Gollum case, however, is partially done, with one person accused of passing around the meme, Rifat Cetin, given a 1 year jail sentence, but having it suspended for five years -- meaning if he breaks no other laws in the next five years, he won't have to go to jail. He does, however, lose custody of his kids, which seems pretty damn harsh for sending around a simple (and not very insulting) internet meme. And this is actually a different case than the one we discussed earlier -- it's just that there were multiple lawsuits over the same image.

Cetin is going to appeal, not on the basis of "WTF, I don't even..." which should be the standard here, but on the technicality that Erdogan was actually Prime Minister at the time the image was posted, rather than President -- and the law is only against insulting the President.

Either way, all this has done, of course, is get more people to post and share that image over and over and over again. You'd think that "growing a thicker skin" might be a better overall strategy. But, then again, I'm not the President of Turkey, so what do I know?

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Filed Under: gollum, insults, recep tayyip erdogan, rifat cetin, smeagol, thin skin, turkey

27 Comments

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Dark Helmet (profile), 24 Jun 2016 @ 2:15pm

Jesus...
"But, then again, I'm not the President of Turkey, so what do I know?"

So you've been lying to us THIS ENTIRE TIME!!???
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Anonymous Coward, 24 Jun 2016 @ 2:19pm

Re: Jesus...
At least we can insult him all we want!
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I.T. Guy, 24 Jun 2016 @ 2:25pm

With a face like that you'd think he'd be able to take it.
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Anonymous Coward, 24 Jun 2016 @ 2:31pm

Cetin is going to appeal, not on the basis of "WTF, I don't even..." which should be the standard here, but on the technicality that Erdogan was actually Prime Minister at the time the image was posted, rather than President -- and the law is only against insulting the President.

That's not really a technicality. If the law makes it a crime to insult the President, and the guy being insulted wasn't the President, then the law was not violated.

The fact that they even have this law shows that Turkey is not interested in allowing things like free speech. The fact that they're prosecuting it in this manner shows that they're also not interested in the rule of law itself.
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jupiterkansas (profile), 24 Jun 2016 @ 2:33pm

It just tells you something about the kind of people who seek power. They don't really care whose lives they ruin.
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Scote, 24 Jun 2016 @ 3:22pm

This is exactly what a thin skinned President Trump would do to people...
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Anonymous Coward, 24 Jun 2016 @ 3:28pm

Erdogan is a dangerous man, in my opinion! he not only wants to have Turkey accepted into the EU, he wants to run the whole shebang! i only hope the other members of the EU give a lot of thought to the entry before deciding and also make some conditions which must not be broken! not that he would take any notice though!
however, how any court can take away custody of a person for his children over something as trivial as this, is beyond me. that is not only much more of a crime, but shows how the Turkish courts will do what they are told by their 'leader'!
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Cathie Dunklee-Donnell (profile), 24 Jun 2016 @ 3:58pm

Poor kids
He lost custody of the kids? I feel sorry for them; they didn't do anything? I guess the president has no sense of humour and the public has no freedom of speech. It is funny the two sets of photos side by side.
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Bergman (profile), 24 Jun 2016 @ 4:44pm

Re: Re: Jesus...
Indeed we can! And in honor of living in a country where we have rights rather than vaguely suggested privileges:

Defamation Poem, by Jan Böhmermann

Stupid as fuck, cowardly and uptight,
Is Erdogan, the president,
His gob smells of bad döner,
Even a pig’s fart smells better,
He’s the man who hits girls,
While wearing a rubber mask,
But goat-fucking he likes the best,
And having minorities repressed,

Kicking Kurds,
Beating Christians,
While watching kiddie porn,
And even at night, instead of sleep,
It’s time for fellatio with a hundred sheep,

Yep, Erdogan is definitely
The president with a tiny dick,
Every Turk will tell you all,
The stupid fool has wrinkly balls,
From Ankara to Istanbul,
They all know the man is gay,
Perverted, louse-infested, a zoophile,
Recep Fritzl Priklopil

Head as empty as his balls,
Of every gang-bang party he’s the star,
Till his cock burns when he has a piss,
That’s Recep Erdogan,
The Turkish president.
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Anonymous Coward, 24 Jun 2016 @ 5:01pm

Are you sure he wasn't sued for copyright infringement?

Either Gollums or Erdogans, that's up for debate...
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That Anonymous Coward (profile), 24 Jun 2016 @ 5:11pm

It must be nice to live in a country where there are no problems, and instead protecting the image of the leader is a wise way to expend resources.

That or perhaps the nation is being held captive by someone more concerned about his appearance than the quality of of lives of those he claims to represent.
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Pixelation, 24 Jun 2016 @ 6:48pm

The big problem is Erdogan looks way too much like Gollum. If it didn't hit so close to home the Turkish president wouldn't care.

Recep "Gollum" Erdogan. Well, it fits...

I'm wondering when the MPAA will file copyright infringement charges.
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Oblate (profile), 24 Jun 2016 @ 8:29pm

I hope someone edits a version of LOTR so that Smeagol/Gollum is replaced by Erdogan.

Judging by a quick image search there's plenty of source material.
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Kronomex, 24 Jun 2016 @ 8:37pm

Erdogan has gone from being a ridiculous vain little man to plain crazy. Mad as a cut snake.
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BernardoVerda (profile), 24 Jun 2016 @ 11:27pm

All I want to know is, ..
How far can this go, before Gollum can sue Erdogan, for besmirching Gollom's reputation?
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David, 25 Jun 2016 @ 12:22am

Re:

Recep "Gollum" Erdogan. Well, it fits...

Göllüm for short.
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Anonymous Coward, 25 Jun 2016 @ 3:02am

Re:
With a face like that, he might want to take it, but no woman will ever give it to him.

or to put it another way...Erdogan's got more chance of getting the One ring, than a ladies.
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Anonymous Coward, 25 Jun 2016 @ 3:03am

Re:
Erdogan isn't just dangerous.

He's had politcal allies (and their families) 'accidentally' burned alive in their houses.

Ordered troops to shoot live ammunition into protesting crowds, used nerve gas to destroy villages (ala Saddam Hussein) and basically deserves a bullet to the face as soon as possible.
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David, 25 Jun 2016 @ 3:54am

Re:
Focus. This is about the visual similarity.
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Anonymous Coward, 25 Jun 2016 @ 1:50pm

Fucking Asshats
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TDR, 25 Jun 2016 @ 3:25pm

To add to this unfortunately powerful idiot's misery, perhaps someone should quote Duke Nukem: "Your face, your a** - what's the difference?"
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Ninja (profile), 27 Jun 2016 @ 8:25am

So the guy may lose his kids and a great psychological anguish will be placed on them (and the father himself) because of an incredibly stupid law and a moron that managed to get to power. Way to go Erdogan, this probably puts the value decomposing turd a few orders of magnitude above you.
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vancedecker (profile), 28 Jun 2016 @ 11:38am

Re: Re: Jesus...
Just wait until Uma, Hillary's closest advisory starts implementing the sharia laws.

You'll be skinned alive for saying anything negative about the prophet mohammed.
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vancedecker (profile), 28 Jun 2016 @ 11:40am

Re:
That's a Muslim-run state for you. Welcome to the Religion of Peace.
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Wendy Cockcroft, 29 Jun 2016 @ 2:34am

Re: Re:
That's narcissism, not Islam. Peddle your poison somewhere else. We're not interested in waging total war on anyone.
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Jul 2016 @ 5:18am

El Gollum Presidente
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Andy Kuiper (profile), 5 Jul 2016 @ 3:50pm

way to harsh
Some people take things way too seriously. No need to overreact.
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