Turkish court sentences pop star for betting advertisement
A Turkish court has handed pop star Serdar Ortaç a ten-month prison sentence for "illegal gambling advertisement and promotion," and fined the singer ten dollars, postponing the ruling. Ortaç was among the group of celebrities investigated for promoting illegal gambling websites.
Duvar English
A Turkish court on Feb. 25 sentenced pop star Serdar Ortaç to ten months in prison, fined him 400 Turkish liras ($10) for “illegal gambling advertisement and promotion,” and postponed the verdict.
The prosecutor’s opinion sought a prison sentence of up to three years for Ortaç on charges of promoting and advertising illegal gambling. The court also ruled to lift the judicial control order.
Ortaç was among a group of celebrities and social media influencers that were under investigation by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office for allegations of promoting illegal gambling.
Ortaç and media personality Mehmet Ali Erbil were referred to court with a request for their arrest. The court instead imposed house arrest as a judicial control measure.
Ortaç’s lawyer filed an appeal with the Istanbul High Criminal Court to lift the house arrest decision. After reviewing the appeal, the court ruled to remove the house arrest measure.
Influencer Kerimcan Durmaz was arrested on Jan. 8 on the same charges. The court released him 44 days later, as Durmaz testified that he was not aware of the advertisement on an LED screen in the background of one of his video blogs.