According to CNN, Turkish pop music singer Gulsen Colakoglu has been placed under house arrest after making a joke about state-sanctioned religious schools in Turkey. The news follows her arrest and imprisonment last week on charges of “inciting or insulting the public to hatred and enmity.”
The charges are reportedly related to a video making rounds on social media in which Colakoglu jokes about one of her fellow musician’s attendance at a religious school. In the fan-recorded video, she says “[He] graduated from Imam Hatip (religious schools). That’s where his pervert side comes from.”
Colakoglu has denied the charges against her stating that the statement was meant to be viewed as a joke as well as apologizing to anyone who may have been offended. After her release from jail, she tweeted on her official social media accounts that she was sorry and that the joke was “twisted by malicious people who aim to polarize our country.”
Fans, celebrities and public figures alike have rallied together in support of her release including the iconic Tarkan who voiced his disapproval of her arrest stating, “This injustice to Gulsen must end and Gulsen must be released immediately.” Fans have started trending #FreeGulsen on Twitter in an effort to raise awareness about her imprisonment.
The charges against her have yet to be dropped and members of the country’s Justice and Development party have defended the decision to arrest her stating that “inciting hatred is not an art form.”
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