The First Post - 29 Jun, 2009
A British artist, Michael Dickinson, has fled Turkey after learning that he could be jailed for insulting the Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan in a collage he made called Good Dog (above), which shows the PM as a dog on a Stars and Stripes lead.
Dickinson had been acquitted last September on charges of insulting Erdogan when the judge decided that though the artwork was insulting according to Turkish standards, it would not be according to standards in the European Union. And because Turkey was trying to join the EU, Dickinson's collage should not be seen as a crime.
Such enlightened thinking was welcomed by Dickinson and fellow artists. But a week ago he heard that the public prosecutor had overturned the acquittal and Dickinson was going to be retried. He decided to drop everything and leave the country where he has lived for 23 years.
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