While there are countless weird and wonderful creatures in The Lord of the Rings films, perhaps none are more memorably odd than Gollum. So it’s little wonder that comparing this “small, slimy creature” to President Erdogan might be considered a crime in Turkey, where insulting the president is illegal.
However this is not an easy case for the courts, especially after the judge admitted he had not seen the whole of the Lord of the Rings series and thus needs expert help. It is reported that the group of experts who will analyze Gollum consist of two academics, two behavioral scientists or psychologists and an expert on cinema and television.
Editor's note: this is not satire.
They will be tasked with determining if the accused cartoonist, Bilgin Ciftci, insulted Erdogan by sharing images of the president and gollum in similar poses eating and expressing different emotions.
The case has been adjourned until February.
The tweet below shows some side by side photos, however it is not clear whether these are the images shared by Ciftci.
#Tuerkiyede #Türkiye #Erdoğan #Erdogan HE DOES LOOK LIKE GOLLUM, but he acts like Kim Jung-Un. pic.twitter.com/KGmzn99FSP
— BaRdman (@bardman) December 2, 2015
