The great composer and classical pianist Fazil Say says it’s a “sad day” for his native Turkey after he was convicted of blasphemy and inciting hatred for a series of comments he made on Twitter last year.

Say’s lawyer says the musician was given a suspended 10-month jail term, but he’ll have to serve the term if convicted of a similar offense within the next five years.

What could Fazil Say have done that was so terrible to deserve jail time, even if it was suspended?  He quoted a poet.  Say retweeted some verses written in the 11th century by Omar Khayyam:

“You say rivers of wine flow in heaven, is heaven a tavern to you?  You say two huris [‘companions’] await each believer there, is heaven a brothel to you?”

The poet was stinging pious hypocrisy.

Free speech advocates are outraged, accusing Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of attempting to crush free speech and dismantle secularism.