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.