A Turkish man faces up to two years in prison for allegedly comparing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the character Gollum from the Lord of the Rings movies.

Bilgin Ciftci, a doctor in Turkey’s public health service, was fired from his job in October after he allegedly shared a meme on Twitter that compared Gollum to Erdogan.

The Turkish court overseeing the case ruled this week that a committee of experts should assess whether Gollum is good or bad, before it could weigh in on whether Ciftci had committed a crime.

It is a punishable crime in Turkey to insult the head of state.

Lawyer Hicran Danisman told the Associated Press that she was forced to argue in court this week that “Gollum is not a bad character” because she got “nowhere” with a defence case based on freedom of expression.

Danisman said that prompted the judge to rule that a committee, including psychologists and movie experts, should provide an assessment of Gollum’s character. The trial is adjourned until Feb. 23.

A. Kadir Yildirim, a research scholar at Rice University in Houston, re-posted the offending meme in October.

Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson and screenwriters Fran Walsh and Phillippa Boyens have also weighed in on the controversy.

In a statement provided to The Wrap, they wrote that the images shared online are not of Gollum, but of Smeagol, the character’s much nicer alter-ego in the film series.

“Smeagol is a joyful, sweet character. Smeagol does not lie, deceive, or attempt to manipulate others. He is not evil, conniving, or malicious — these personality traits belong to Gollum, who should never be confused with Smeagol,” the statement read.

“Smeagol would never dream of wielding power over those weaker than himself,” it states. “He is not a bully. In fact he’s very loveable. This is why audiences all over the world have warmed to his character.”

In the films, Gollum is a small, emaciated creature who pines to recover the One Ring, which he calls his “precious.” His character was known as Smeagol before he became corrupted by his obsession with the ring.

Turkey has been accused of cracking down on freedom of expression and freedom of the press in recent years. The country’s criminal code also makes it unlawful to insult what it means to be a Turk, or the Turkish Republic.

In October, European Digital Rights advocacy group estimated that more than 100,000 websites were blocked in the country.

Erdogan has also repeatedly restricted access to Twitter, even threatening to “root out” the social media website over leaked government recordings in 2014.

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It isn’t the first time Turkish citizens have been arrested for insulting Erdogan.

Former Miss Turkey Emre Telci was detained last February for sharing a satirical poem on Instagram that was deemed critical of the president, while a 16-year-old high school student was also arrested for calling Erdogan the “thieving owner of the illegal palace” during a rally in 2014.

With files from The Associated Press

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