RSF urges court to acquit Cyprus journalists over Erdogan 'insult'

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has urged authorities in northern Cyprus to acquit two journalists facing up to five years in prison on charges of insulting and defaming Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Sener Levent, the editor of Turkish-language daily Afrika, and the paper's reporter Ali Osman Tabak are on trial over a cartoon showing a Greek statue urinating on Erdogan's head.

The image first appeared online at the time of the Turkish leader's 2017 visit to Greece, and Afrika later published it with the caption "seen through Greek eyes".

RSF said the two journalists are charged with defaming and insulting a foreign leader and "inciting hatred against a foreign leader with the aim of spoiling the friendly and peaceful relations between the two countries."
RSF said in a statement that convicting the journalists would be "a grave error and would send an extremely negative signal to the media in the northern part of Cyprus."