In early 2020, Turkish journalist Hakan Aygün was arrested on charges of having insulted religious sentiments and inflamed religious hatred by insulting the Qur’an. This came as the result of a tweet in which he criticized Turkish President Erdoğan’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Erdoğan had asked citizens to donate to a bank account, broadcasting it as a relief fund, and gave the international bank account number (IBAN) associated with the account so people could do so. Hakan used wordplay, taking advantage of the similarity of “IBAN” to the Turkish word for “belief,” iman. He joked about the president’s suggestion by imagining a Qur’anic verse that used “IBAN” in place of iman.

“Belittling the book, which is a primary priority for Muslims, and its verses through wordplay is an ugly attack beyond measure. Our book the Holy Qur’an clearly states the fate of such people.” - Mustafa Doğan İnal, lawyer associated with Turkish President Erdoğan

For tweeting these jokes, Hakan was arrested and detained by Turkish security forces. The public prosecutor sought punishment for his comments, asserting that they insulted Muslims and their beliefs. Hakan was held for over a month.

In this case, though Hakan was subject to unjust detention for an extended period simply for exercising his free speech, some measure of justice was served. The Constitutional Court, in reviewing the case, sided against the government, stating that Hakan’s rights had been violated and his tweet did not constitute a threat to religious harmony. The Court ordered that Hakan be released and paid the equivalent of nearly $5,000 USD in damages.