An artist who made a collage mocking Turkey’s prime minister by portraying him as a dog, has been acquitted by a court of insulting him.
Michael Dickinson, 58, was cleared by a court in Istanbul after a judge decided the controversial collage of Tayyip Erdogan was art and not insulting.
The piece, called Good Boy, showed Mr Erdogan as a dog with a stars and stripe leash and nuclear missile tail.
Mr Dickinson, originally from Durham, has worked in Turkey for 20 years.
The artist had already been held in custody for 10 days in 2006 after police seized another collage considered to be offensive.
At the time, he was ordered to leave the country, but was charged when he later returned on a tourist visa.
The Turkish court said that although Mr Dickinson’s work “had some insulting elements” it could be considered within the limits of criticism and he was acquitted.
BBC NEWS | UK | England | Turkey PM ‘insult’ artist cleared.
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