A Turkish pop star on Monday was released from jail and placed on house arrest after she allegedly made a joke about Islamic religious schools in Turkey.
Gulsen Colakoglu, known as simply Gulsen, is currently awaiting trial for charges of “inciting hatred and enmity,” according to ABC News.
The performer allegedly joked at a concert that one of her musicians’ “perversion” came from his attendance at one of the country’s religious schools, which were generally first established to train imams.
“He studied at an Imam Hatip previously,” she quipped, reported Reuters. “That’s where his perversion comes from.”
Gulsen is known for dressing in revealing outfits and once unfurled a rainbow LGBT pride flag at a concert.
Video of the singer’s remarks had been promoted on social media by critics who called for her arrest, reports said.
The songwriter on Thursday was taken in by authorities for questioning and formally arrested.
The singer’s legal team on Monday secured Gulsen’s release from jail by citing, in part, her need to take care of a small child at home and that she is unlikely to tamper with evidence.
Protests in Istanbul broke out over the weekend concerning the arrest.
“Hundreds of women would be alive today if men who assaulted other women were captured as fast as Gulsen was,” organizers of the Istanbul protest reportedly said at the demonstration, Reuters reported.
Demonstrators framed the arrest as another crackdown on “women who don’t fit the mold” and “the type of woman the government” doesn’t want, the report added.
Fellow Turkish pop star Tarkan is another publicly supporting Gulsen.
“Our legal system, which turns a blind eye to corruption, thieves, those who break the law and massacre nature, those who kill animals and those who use religion to polarize society through their bigoted ideas — has arrested Gulsen in one whack,” Tarkan said via Twitter.
Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of Turkey’s main opposition party, demanded, “Don’t betray the law and justice; release the artist now!”
However, a spokesperson for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development party, dubbed AKP, has defended the decision to arrest the singer.
“Targeting a segment of society with the allegation of ‘perversion’ and trying to polarize Turkey is a hate crime and a disgrace to humanity,” AKP spokesman Omer Celik posted via Twitter.
President Erdogan and members of his Islam-based ruling party are graduates of the religious schools Gulsen joked about, The Associated Press noted.
Source: Dailywire
