Fazil Say

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Charge:	Blasphemy
Sentence:	10 months suspended
Years Imprisoned:
Year Crime:	2012
Year Convicted:	2013
Year Cleared:	2015
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Turkey
County or Region of Crime:
City of Crime:
Result:	Judicially Exonerated
Summary of Case:	"Fazil Say was wrongly convicted in April 2013 in Turkey, of blasphemy for a series of Twitter posts in 2012 that were deemed offensive to Islam and Muslims, one of which said: “I am not sure if you have also realised it, but all the pricks, low-lives, buffoons, thieves, jesters, they are all Allahists. Is this a paradox?” Say is a a world-renowned pianist and composer, who has played with the philharmonic orchestras of Berlin, New York, Tokyo and Israel. Say is also a well-known atheist and harsh critic of the Turkish government, After his conviction the 43-year-old Say was given a 10-month suspended jail sentence. Say appealed, but he was reconvicted in September 2013 after a retrial and his sentence was affirmed. Say appealed to Turkey's highest court. On October 26, 2015 it was reported that the the Supreme Court of Appeal in a majority 4 to 1 ruling, overturned Say's conviction on the basis his comments on social media should be regarded as "freedom of thought and expression and thus should not be punished." His case was remanded to the lower court which was expected to result in a judgment of acquittal. Say accused the Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of being behind the case against him."
Conviction Caused By:
Innocence Proved By:	"On October 26, 2015 it was reported that the the Supreme Court of Appeal in a majority 4 to 1 ruling, overturned Say's conviction on the basis his comments on social media should be regarded as "freedom of thought and expression and thus should not be punished." His case was remanded to the lower court which was expected to result in a judgment of acquittal."
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Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:
Age When Released:
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	Other
Information Source 1:	"Turkey Overturns Pianist’s Blasphemy Conviction, By Ed Brayton, Patheos.com, October 28, 2015"
Information Location 1:	http://www.patheos.com/blogs/dispatches/2015/10/28/turkey-overturns-pianists-blasphemy-conviction/?ref_widget=trending&ref_blog=daylightatheism&ref_post=publications
Information Source 2:	"Turkey court overturns blasphemy sentence against pianist Say, By Agence France-Presse, GlobalPost.com (Boston), October 26, 2015"
Information Location 2:	http://www.globalpost.com/article/6675473/2015/10/26/turkey-court-overturns-blasphemy-sentence-against-pianist-say
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Fazil Say

Charge:

Blasphemy

Sentence:

10 months suspended

Years Imprisoned:

Year Crime:

2012

Year Convicted:

2013

Year Cleared:

2015

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Turkey

County or Region of Crime:

City of Crime:

Result:

Judicially Exonerated

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Innocence Proved By:

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

Age When Released:

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Other

Information Source 1:

"Turkey Overturns Pianist’s Blasphemy Conviction, By Ed Brayton, Patheos.com, October 28, 2015"

Information Location 1:

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/dispatches/2015/10/28/turkey-overturns-pianists-blasphemy-conviction/?ref_widget=trending&ref_blog=daylightatheism&ref_post=publications

Information Source 2:

"Turkey court overturns blasphemy sentence against pianist Say, By Agence France-Presse, GlobalPost.com (Boston), October 26, 2015"

Information Location 2:

http://www.globalpost.com/article/6675473/2015/10/26/turkey-court-overturns-blasphemy-sentence-against-pianist-say

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Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

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