@allah (cc) - Criminal Complaint about 200,000 Twitter Users

TV producer and presenter Serdar Tuncer filed a criminal complaint about a Twitter user alias @allah (cc) and also about almost 200,000 users following his tweets. Lawyer Bolaç told bianet, "No prosecutor should open a case for such a reason".

TV producer and presenter Serdar Tuncer filed a criminal complaint about a twitter user with the pseudonym @allah (cc). Tuncer also complained about almost 200,000 users who follow his tweets regularly on the online networking service.

Tuncer claimed that the user @allah (cc) and his readers mocked Islam and other divine religions and humiliated believers.

The complaint read, "The correspondence between the person called @allah (cc) and his readers contains humiliation and insults against Islam and Muslims. A reaction in society occurred that will arouse indignation by reason of the actions of the suspects because Islam, Muslims and believers in monotheistic religions were subjected to insult and humiliation. For these reasons I apply by attorney to open a public trial for punishment under Article 216/3 Turkish Criminal Law (TCK) on 'denigration of religious values'".

@allah (cc)'s tweets

Tuncer, who also presents Ramadan programs on TRT, showed a number of tweets as examples for humiliation of religion by @allah (cc). Here are some of the posts on Twitter he quoted:

* We have been god for so many years and we are still cooking pasta with tomato sauce.

* We admit it, no doubt, we did not create the biscuit-chocolate men.

* Fortunately, we created sour cherry.

* Don't draw demons throwing wood into the fire any more since we are heating hell electrically.

* With my present mind I would not have created the little finger of human beings.

* Our side over here is very safe because there is no police.

* It is hard work to be god since we cannot ask a question.

"Writings do not contain insult"

Article 216/3 TCK foresees, "Anyone who openly denigrates the religious values of a part of the population shall be sentenced to imprisonment of from six months to one year, where the act is sufficient to breach public peace".

Lawyer Efkan Bolaç expressed his opinion that no prosecutor should consider such a complaint. "The tweets quoted as examples in the petition do not contain humiliation, hatred or a breach of public peace. Nobody is being insulted. No prosecutor should open a trial for such a reason", Bolaç stated.

Bolaç emphasized that there was no crime and even if an offence had been committed, the readers of @allah (cc) could not be included in this. "Lodging a criminal complaint about 200,000 people because they read a certain [Twitter] account cannot find a response in law", he said.

@allah (cc) replied on Twitter when Tuncer's complaint was announced:

"Only god can judge me" (IC/VK)