Turkey tries to jail girl band Manifest for dancing in skimpy clothes on stage
After prosecuting a girl for dancing under the Turkish flag and a tourist who kissed his wife in a mosque courtyard, Turkish officials are now trying to jail a Turkish girl band for dancing on stage.
The six members of the pop band Manifest performed at Kucukciftlik Park in the Besiktas district of Istanbul on 6th September, where 12,000 tickets had been sold for the age-restricted show.
Their performance in revealing outfits sparked criticism on social media, while others defended the band by calling the backlash an attack on artistic freedom.
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The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office announced on September 8 that it had launched an investigation on charges of "indecent acts" and "exhibitionism," saying the behaviour could negatively affect shared moral values and children.
The six members, identified as Mina Solak, Esin Bahat, Zeynep Sude Oktay, Lidya Pınar, Sueda Uluca, and Emine Hilal Yelekçi, appeared in court after giving statements at the prosecutor’s office. They were released under judicial control but barred from leaving the country and ordered to check in regularly with police.
Access to online videos of the concert was separately blocked by the Ankara 6th Penal Judgeship of Peace on grounds of protecting national security and public order. Following the investigation, several of the group’s upcoming concerts were cancelled.
The group, formed in February, has quickly gained prominence in the Turkish pop scene. The Istanbul concert was their first age-restricted and sold-out show.
Previously, Turkish officials arrested a Russian couple for kissing in the courtyard of a mosque in Istanbul.
The couple said people were smoking and children were playing football in the courtyard and they had no idea a peck on the lips was a criminal offence when it happened on 26th August in the courtyard of the Buyuk Camlica Mosque in the Uskudar district of Istanbul, Turkey.
Footage shared on social media shows the pair embracing and kissing in the mosque’s courtyard before they were reported by local residents and then tracked down and arrested.
Police who detained the two identified them as Russian nationals K.Z. and S.S. after the recording was shared online.
The Anatolian Chief Public Prosecutor's Office charged the two with "publicly insulting religious values" and requested a prison sentence of between six months and one year.
Earlier in Turkey, another tourist was charged with disrespecting national symbols after she danced on a flagpole in Cappadocia.
Reports said the woman had climbed onto the pole and used it as if it were a dance pole, while others filmed the act.
Prosecutors in that case accused her of showing disrespect to national symbols and prepared an indictment seeking up to three years in prison.
Story: NewsX