In Turkey, rapper Şehinşah was recently detained by local authorities for allegedly insulting the president in two of his songs. Şehinşah wrote on his Twitter account: “On my way home, I was detained at the airport for insulting the President. I am in detention again.”

In another tweet Şehinşah describes his frustration over these continuous detentions and promises to soon release a protest song.

Arkadaşlar salındım. Sosyal platformlarda destek olan herkese çok teşekkür ederim. Kendimi yalnız hissetmemek , böyle anlarda arkamda sizi seven onlarca insanın varlığını hissetmek bana güç verdi.
Artı yakında PROTEST parça yapçam. Sıkıldım aynı teranelerden nezarete atılmaktan.

— Şehinşah (@sehinsahakahs) June 6, 2021

According to the State of Artistic Freedom 2021, published by Freemuse, several artists have been oppressed and attacked by Turkish authorities and “experienced legal prosecution under Article 299 of the Turkish Penal Code (Insulting the President of the Republic) and also the 1991 Anti-Terror Law (no. 3713/TMK). Both laws have been used to legitimise state repression against opposing ideas and individuals.”

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