Singer Mehmet Önder Doğan, nicknamed Murda, was sentenced to 4 years and 2 months in prison on charges of “encouraging drug use” in his songs, with the charge of “encouraging drug use”. The singer’s lawyer, Ümit Gürkal Egemen, stated that they will appeal the decision.
Istanbul 53rd Criminal Court of First Instance in the third hearing, Mehmet Önder Doğan was not present, while his lawyer was present. In his opinion on the merits, the prosecutor of the trial was told that the defendant admitted that the song in the indictment belonged to him, and that his songs, Smoke, Expensive and Eh Baba, contained words encouraging smoking marijuana. He was sentenced to imprisonment from 6 years 2 months to 17 years and 6 months on the charge of “encouraging drug use” in a chain, stating that the accused Doğan’s Youtube channel has a high following and his clips are watched and liked by a large number of people, and that it is clear that the accused is openly encouraged to use drugs by reaching a large number of people. he demanded punishment.
HIS LAWYER WANTED TO BE ACQUIRED
Lawyer Ümit Gürkal Egemen stated that they did not agree with the opinion and said:
” My client has two songs called Smoke. The song “Duman” mentioned in the indictment was not published on YouTube. It was also removed from its own channel. However, it cannot technically prevent it from being copied and broadcast by third parties at the time it was shared. The song in question was also not performed in any of his concerts. The song in question was not a licensed song and was anonymous at that time. it is a song he shared with his wife and friends because he is not famous .Although the crime is committed with general intent, it should be evaluated within the scope of freedom of thought, art and thought, in cases where it is not acted with the intention of committing a crime in accordance with Articles 26-27 of the Constitution and Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The legal elements of the crime attributed to my client have not been formed. We demand a verdict of acquittal.”
GOOD DEATH PENALTY COMMITTED TO 4 YEARS AND 2 MONTHS IMPRISON
The court ruled that the defendant was charged with “openly encouraging the use of drugs”, 190 /2 of the TPC. He was sentenced to 5 years in prison in accordance with the article. Considering the behavior of the accused Mehmet Önder Doğan during the trial, the court reduced the sentence to 4 years and 2 months in prison by applying a discretionary It was also stated in the decision that the decision could be appealed to the court of appeal. The song ‘Duman’ that I sing in Turkey is not the song on which the accusation is made. The songs ‘Expensive’ and ‘Eh Baba’ are also mine. The Netherlands’ “I grew up in the country. I grew up with the culture of that place. The use of these substances is free there. That’s why I didn’t think it was like that here. Rap songs are close to street jargon. There is a very subtle nuance in between. It was not said to encourage anyone to commit crime,” he said.
LAWYER: WE WILL HAVE OBJECTIONS
Murda’s lawyer, Ümit Gürkal Egemen, upon questions from the press at the exit of the hearing, said, “The Constitution’s 26, 27, and European Convention on Human Rights. We said that it should be considered within the scope of artistic freedom and freedom of expression according to Article 10. My client has never acted here to openly encourage anyone to any bad habit, no matter what the name is, or to show that it is good. No artist can do such an act anyway. “We think there is a difference of interpretation. We will appeal the decision, we will have objections. We will see the result when the upper court evaluates,” he said.
Attorney Egemen said, “After the indictment was issued, a travel ban was issued. As you know, my client is a Dutch citizen. He is not a Turkish citizen, he does not have a residence here. After the indictment was evaluated, we took his statement and demanded that the ban on leaving the country be lifted. “This demand of ours was accepted. He was excluded from the hearings. Because of this, he was not here today. He will continue his concerts. I talked to him a little while ago. He has concerts in Turkey in the summer, we are fully assured of justice. We will follow the legal process,” he said. Stating that his client is a good family man, lawyer Egemen said, “You can see this from his posts. He does not have any bad habits in any way. He is a person in sight, a person trying to set an example for all young people and society. Of course, there can be some discourses in the songs. “It’s not just something that belongs to my client. This and similar things happen in all movies, TV series, all artworks. We don’t believe or think that any artist has any intention to mislead people, and we know them as much as we know them,” he said.
CLAIM
In the indictment, Dutch singer Mehmet Önder Doğan, known by his nickname Murda, took part in the songs “Duman”, “Expensive” and “Eh Baba”. It was claimed that some expressions encouraged the use of drugs or In the indictment, the singer Doğan was imprisoned from 5 to 10 years for the crime of “encouraging people to use drugs” in accordance with Article 190/2 of the Turkish Penal Code. in the interim session and the ban on her abroad was lifted upon her request.
