We were taken into custody for having established a subliminal connection with the coup makers on a television programme, ie one that a human being could not consciously perceive.

To make such a claim about ‘consciousness’ makes as much sense as to claim we were speaking with aliens or could fly up to the night dressed as Superman or move mountains with the power of magnetism.

When the law is stripped of seriousness and intelligence, any form of words becomes permissible and any sort of nonsense possible.

By claiming that Mehmet Altan and I were knowingly capable of delivering ‘a subconscious message that was imperceptible to normal consciousness,’ and about a coup plot of which the president, the prime minister, the chief of general staff, even the head of the National Intelligence Agency (MİT) were unaware is nothing less than sheltering behind nonsense.

This accusation will certainly go down in history. However it is hard to know whether it will be the history of law or the history of comedy.

Why are we confronted with this legal monstrosity?

I surmise two reasons.

One motive is to  sow fear by showing that ‘we can silence any sort of criticism with all manner of absurdities.’

The second reason is to turn the July 15 coup investigation into some sort of nonsense; some sort of joke and thus divert it from its course.

I do not know why they are so fearful of investigating the coup or why they are trying so hard to divert the investigation from its course.

But this I know: distorting the law to serve these two purposes is itself a serious crime.

Ahmet Altan, 15 September 2016