The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) convicted Turkey in the application of British artist Michael Dickinson, who was prosecuted due to “insult” through a collage work he prepared on former Prime Minister Erdoğan in 2006.
After the work was exhibited at a street exhibition in Kadıköy, a lawsuit was filed against the exhibition’s organiser and Dickinson arrived at the hearing on September 12, 2006, showing the collage work to the crowd inside the courthouse. Because of this action, he was detained and remained under arrest for three days. The British artist has been sentenced to 425 days of imprisonment in the lawsuit filed against him due to “insulting the Prime Minister.” The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) indicated that the collage work is part of the political criticism as well as the debates on Turkey’s foreign policies; stating that the detainment and temporary arrest of Dickinson were against freedom of expression. The Turkish government was sentenced to pay 2 thousand euros of moral compensation to the British artist.
04.02.2020
dw.com