Durham artist Michael Dickinson may face jail for collage

Jan 28 2010 The Journal

A COUNTY Durham artist who mocked Turkey’s prime minister by portraying him as a dog in a collage could be jailed after refusing to pay a court fine.

Michael Dickinson, 59, appeared before a judge in Istanbul, Turkey, where he was found guilty of mocking Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The controversial artwork, called Good Boy, showed the Prime Minister as an animal with a “stars and stripes“ lead and a nuclear missile for a tail.

Mr Dickinson, who has lived in Turkey for more than 20 years, was originally charged in 2006 but acquitted two years later. However, the case was reopened and Mr Dickinson has been convicted of insulting Mr Erdogan.

After hearing Mr Dickinson is refusing to pay a fine, the judge adjourned proceedings until March 9. “Before the judge gave his verdict he asked my lawyer if I had anything to say,” a defiant Mr Dickinson said after the court hearing.

“I told the judge that if he gave me a fine I would not pay it in protest at the attack on my freedom of speech. The judge said he was going to give me a month to think about whether I wanted to pay the fine or face up to two years in a Turkish jail.

“I am still determined not to pay it so I will be put in prison. I won’t pay because I don’t regard what I have done as a ’crime’. I don’t want to go to prison but that is the only alternative on offer.” Mr Dickinson initially fled Turkey last year and returned to the North East when charges were brought, but found he could not get a job here either and so returned to Istanbul.

The controversy began when he exhibited another collage, Best in Show, which depicted Mr Erdogan as a dog being given a rosette by George Bush. Police seized the picture, and Mr Dickinson appeared in court in September 2006 and was told he would not be prosecuted. However, he then held up Good Boy outside the court in protest and was arrested for a second time.

Tim Hancock, UK campaigns director for Amnesty International, said: “The law is routinely used to suppress free speech in Turkey, through Article 301 that criminalises ’insulting Turkishness’. Writers, artists and Human Rights campaigners are muzzled by the courts. The Turkish authorities should stop abusing people’s rights to freedom of expression – no one should face prison for peacefully expressing their views.”