Owner of the Rodeo Publishing, Mehmet Murat Mıhçıoğlu is taken into custody being charged with “defamation of the president”, due to publishing a book collecting the famous cartoonist Carlos Latuff’s works on Turkey. Mıhçıoğlu was detained as he went to the Security General Directorate of Kadıköy to give statement on Thursday and stayed a day in custody.
Mıhçıoğlu was released the day after by the district attorney after it is revealed that the book has been published last year in June and the 6 months period anticipated in press law to press charges has already passed.
In his statement, Mıhçıoğlu said that he met with Latuff online, and went to Brasil in December 2015 to sign a contract and that the book is published in May 2016. He added that nobody interceded to publish that book and continued: “Art of caricature reflects the issues which it approaches in a sharpened fashion. There is no other way of performing it. With this kind of art oppositional critiques are finding a peaceful channel. Thanks to this channel they can express themselves and avoid a setting that will underpin violence. Therefore, it is a fructuous activity for society. The fact that this book is published and distributed freely also contributes the democratic constitutional state image of Turkey.”
