Comedian Deniz Göktaş appears in court after 88 days in detention

Comedian Deniz Göktaş faced a judge for the first time on Monday, 88 days after his arrest at an Istanbul airport upon returning from a tour abroad. He is held in a high-security prison in Çorlu, Tekirdağ, on charges of insulting the president, inciting hatred, and praising a crime.

The prosecutor requested a sentence ranging from two years and two months to 12 years and two months. The trial was moved to a larger courtroom at the 4th Heavy Penal Court due to high public interest.

“I have been in a cell for exactly 22 days per sentence I uttered.”

In his defense, Göktaş stated he has been in solitary confinement without sunlight, allowed only one weekly phone call. He calculated that he has served 22 days in detention for each of the four sentences cited in the indictment.

Göktaş argued the jokes were performed over 197 times before hundreds of thousands of spectators with no complaints other than sold-out tickets. He said the charges reflect "fragile rulers who cannot tolerate satire" rather than changed laws.

He also described being pressured to meet opposition leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu while in custody, a meeting he said he declined. Göktaş noted police officers at the courthouse reportedly asked him why he returned to Turkey.

The comedian rejected claims he fled the country, noting he paid roughly half a million lira for military service exemption shortly before his arrest. The court adjourned the hearing; a date for the next session has not been announced.