Turkish pop star Gulsen appears in court over religious schools joke
Turkish pop star Gulsen rejected the charge of “inciting hatred and enmity” with a joke about Turkey’s religious schools at her first court appearance Friday.
A Turkish pop singer accused of “inciting hatred and enmity” with a joke about Turkey’s religious schools rejected the charge Friday during her first court appearance.
Singer-songwriter Gulsen was charged and briefly jailed over the joke she made during a concert in April, when she quipped that the “perversion” of one of her musicians came from attending a religious school.
The 46-year-old singer, whose full name is Gulsen Colakoglu, was taken away from her Istanbul home in August after a video from the concert began circulating on social media, with a hashtag calling for her arrest.
She was jailed for five days and later spent 15 days under house arrest despite having apologized for any offense she caused religious school graduates. She now faces up to three years in prison if found guilty of the incitement charge.
In her testimony Friday, Gulsen said she had teased a band member who was nicknamed “Imam” but had not attended a religious school.
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