Neil Gaiman

In statements released to their lawyers in Turkey, Ahmet Altan wrote:

This accusation will certainly go down in history. However it is hard to know whether it will be the history of law or the history of comedy.

We were taken into custody for having established a subliminal connection with the coup makers on a television programme, ie one that a human being could not consciously perceive.

To make such a claim about ‘consciousness’ makes as much sense as to claim we were speaking with aliens or could fly up to the night dressed as Superman or move mountains with the power of magnetism.

When the law is stripped of seriousness and intelligence, any form of words becomes permissible and any sort of nonsense possible.

Mehmet Altan wrote:

Our young and heroic prosecutor accuses me of having the superhuman power to deliver ‘subliminal messages’ – i.e. the ability to reach out directly to the subconscious. Were I truly to possess those powers, I assure him, I would have used them as matter of urgency to help Turkey become a democracy with the rule of law.

In that case, Turkey would not have spun off course into the dreadful impasse it now finds itself. Nor would I and others like me be in a situation that defies legality or logic.

Amnesty International - USA: Turkey Regional Action Network

If you want to know what’s happening in Turkey, and what you can do, Amnesty International’s Human Rights in Turkey site.