--- description: Prosecutors have accused them of "insulting people's religious values." title: Turkish Journalists Face Jail For Charlie Hebdo Reprint image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfa0d60245d17e02e/6987ea3fa988ca5d676b017c/461519376.jpg?branch=production ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The Turkish Journalists Who Reprinted _Charlie Hebdo_ Caricatures May Be Jailed by [Sabrina Toppa](/author/sabrina-toppa/) ## Sabrina Toppa Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 9, 2015 7:20 AM CUT  Hikmet Cetinkaya, a columnist of Cumhuriyet newspaper in Istanbul, Turkey, Jan. 14, 2015 Hikmet Cetinkaya, a columnist of Cumhuriyet newspaper in Istanbul, Turkey, Jan. 14, 2015AP by [Sabrina Toppa](/author/sabrina-toppa/) ## Sabrina Toppa Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 9, 2015 7:20 AM CUT Two Turkish columnists who [reprinted](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/08/turkey-charliehebdo-idUSL5N0X54E220150408 "undefined") caricatures of Prophet Muhammed from the satirical French newspaper _Charlie Hebdo_ risk jail time for “insulting people’s religious values,” according to an indictment from Turkish prosecutors published by their secular employer, the _Cumhuriyet Daily_ newspaper. “We are being threatened with prison for defending free speech,” one of the accused, Ceyda Karan, told Reuters. “To threaten a journalist because he or she printed a drawing that does not include an insult can only come from a religious, authoritarian government.” Karan and her colleague Hikmet Cetinkaya printed the images to show their solidarity with _Charlie Hebdo_, the Parisian newspaper that was attacked by Islamist gunmen on Jan. 7, with the loss of 11 lives. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu stated the caricatures constituted an “incitement” and opened an investigation. _Cumhuriyet_ received threats following the printing. Turkey’s [penal code](http://www.legislationline.org/documents/action/popup/id/6872/preview "undefined") administers jail time for acts deemed disrespectful toward religion. \[[_Reuters_](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/08/turkey-charliehebdo-idUSL5N0X54E220150408 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3814785/turkish-journalists-charlie-hebdo-cumhuriyet/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3814785/turkish-journalists-charlie-hebdo-cumhuriyet/"},"headline":"The Turkish Journalists Who Reprinted Charlie Hebdo Caricatures May Be Jailed","datePublished":"2015-04-09T07:20:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T08:20:54.706Z","description":"Turkish prosecutors say the images of the Prophet Muhammad \"insult people's religious values\"","url":"https://time.com/3814785/turkish-journalists-charlie-hebdo-cumhuriyet/","keywords":["Turkey","free speech","Charlie Hebdo"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfa0d60245d17e02e/6987ea3fa988ca5d676b017c/461519376.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sabrina Toppa","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/sabrina-toppa/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfa0d60245d17e02e/6987ea3fa988ca5d676b017c/461519376.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"TURKEY-FRANCE-ATTACKS-CHARLIE-HEBDO-MEDIA","caption":"TURKEY-FRANCE-ATTACKS-CHARLIE-HEBDO-MEDIA","creditText":"AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3814785/turkish-journalists-charlie-hebdo-cumhuriyet/","name":"The Turkish Journalists Who Reprinted Charlie Hebdo Caricatures May Be Jailed"}}]}] ```