Famous pianist Fazil Say gets 10-month suspended sentence

World-renowned Turkish pianist Fazil Say was handed a suspended 10-month prison sentence on Monday for "insulting religious beliefs held by a section of the society." Say's lawyers said the artist had "no intention of insulting or degrading" religion with the tweets, but their defense failed to sway the court. Speaking on the issue, Culture and Tourism Minister Omer Celik said despite not wishing for anyone to be involved with judicial decisions over what they said, it should be taken into account that there was a judicial decision here. "I wouldn't wish for any citizen, artist, man of culture, politician to go through troubles over freedom of speech. I wouldn't want them to be involved with judicial decisions and proceedings. However, there is a judicial decision here that came out as a result," Celik said.