User gets prison sentence for using 'Allah CC' nickname on Twitter

MUŞ – Doğan News Agency

The picture above was used on the account nicknamed 'Allah C.C.'

A Twitter user in Turkey has been sentenced to 15 months in prison for using the nickname “Allah C.C.” on the popular micro-blogging website, on charges of “humiliating the religious values accepted by a part of the people.” 

The user Ertan P., who works as a teacher, was accused by prosecutors in the eastern province of Muş of “writing harmful content” embodying the name of God and the Prophet.

C.C is the abbreviation of the honoric Arabic phrase "Celle Celaluhu" which means, "[Allah's] glory is so almighty."

Prosecutors rejected Ertan P.’s claims that his account was hacked.

“The suspect has accepted the use of the nickname and the posts, but in order to avoid the crime, he said posts could have been written after the account was hacked. It is understood that this claim is unfounded and the investigation files prove him guilty as charged,” the indictment said.

In a case that drew much public attention, Turkish pianist Fazıl Say was sentenced to 10 months after retweeting several lines attributed to the poet Omar Khayyam.

Sevan Nişanyan, a writer and linguist of Armenian origin, was also convicted to 58 weeks in prison for allegedly insulting the Prophet Muhammad in a blog post.