Turkey court orders cartoonist's release but he will remain in jail

A Turkish court on Friday ordered the release of cartoonist Dogan Pehlevan, who was arrested in July after satirical magazine LeMan published a caricature of the Prophet Mohammed, according to a court ruling obtained by AFP on Friday.

But Pehlevan will remain in jail on a separate charge of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, rights group MLSA said.

The cartoonist is accused of insulting Erdogan in two social media messages on X, formerly Twitter, in 2019 and 2024, according to Amnesty International.

Four magazine staffers, including Pehlevan, were detained in July over a cartoon that Erdogan has labelled a "despicable provocation" and a "hate crime," warning its authors will have to answer for "disrespecting the prophet".

The other three staffers had been released before the first hearing.

The magazine and its staff have vigorously denied any link between an illustration published in the magazine, which features a person named Muhammed, and Islam's Prophet Mohammed.

Pehlevan, connected via video link, told the Istanbul court on Friday that he "did not intend to incite hatred and hostility in society with the cartoon," according to MLSA.

"Since my arrest, I have been held in a prison cell. For five months, my child, my wife, my family, and I have been victims," he added.

The court ordered his release and removed judicial controls applied to the other defendants.

The next hearing is scheduled for May 5.