Turkish court clears actors of ‘insulting’ Erdogan

ISTANBUL: An Istanbul court on Monday delivered a rare victory to freedom of expression advocates in Turkey by acquitting two veteran actors of "insulting" President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The case against Mujdat Gezen and Metin Akpinar -- both in their late 70s and mainstays of Turkish television and film -- was seen by their supporters as another example of Erdogan’s sweeping clampdown on political dissent. The two could have been sentenced to up to four years and eight months in prison if convicted for the comments they made on opposition Halk TV in 2018.