Man Arrested For Comparing Turkish President To Gollum Had Panel Of LOTR Experts Determine His Fate

A man arrested for comparing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to Gollum had his case considered by a panel of Lord of the Rings experts as the judge hadn’t seen the films.

Many of the characters from the epic Lord of the Rings series have translated perfectly in the internet-based world of memes, not least the iconic Gollum.

From the ‘One does not simply…’ meme to the ‘RUN!’ Gandalf meme, nearly every single character from the franchise has been adapted by the internet.

However, not everybody seems to find the comparisons funny.

Multiple memes posted on Facebook by Turkish doctor Bilgin Çiftçi compared the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, to Gollum, and while many believe the comparisons to be just a bit of a laugh, the Turkish politician obviously took serious offence.

Insulting or shaming the president is deemed a serious crime in Turkey, and so Çiftçi was arrested and prosecuted for his memes.

Çiftçi argued, however, that the comparison was not actually intended to be a mocking insult but was a ‘compliment’, as the fictional creature was one of the most significant characters of the films, the news outlet reports.

However, the court didn’t entirely buy Çiftçi’s argument, and enlisted a team of five LOTR experts to examine whether the statement was legitimate or not.

Consisting of two psychologists, two academics and a film professor, the panel were charged with determining whether the Facebook memes were enough to send Çiftçi to prison for two years.

As if the story couldn’t get any more bizarre, Peter Jackson, the film’s director, also stepped in to defend the Turkish physician, per the news outlet.