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A court in Istanbul on Saturday rejected a prosecutor’s request to arrest rapper Lvbel C5 over the lyrics of one of his songs and instead imposed judicial control measures, including continued education on Turkish literature.
The rapper, whose real name is Suleyman Burak Bodur, was detained as part of an investigation into one of his latest songs, which he performed with singer Asya Alizade.
The Press Crimes Investigation Bureau of the Istanbul Anadolu Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office is conducting the probe.
After Bodur gave a statement at the Istanbul Courthouse, prosecutors referred him to a criminal judgeship of peace, a court that rules on detention and arrest during investigations, with a request for arrest on the charge of “publicly inciting to commit a crime,” according to the Sabah newspaper.
Bodur did not accept the charges in his statement to prosecutors.
He said he removed the song from all digital platforms after learning about complaints filed with the Presidential Communication Center (CIMER), a government hotline through which citizens submit complaints and requests.
Asked about the violent expressions in the song, he said, "I write lyrics by daydreaming. I have no special intent in these lyrics. There is no violent situation involved; they are entirely imaginary words aimed at young people.”
He also said some of the disputed expressions belong to Alizade.
After assessing the evidence in the file and finding no suspicion that Bodur would flee, the judgeship concluded that arrest would be disproportionate and rejected the request.
The court instead imposed judicial control, a set of supervision measures applied in place of pretrial detention. Bodur is banned from traveling abroad and must sign in at a police station on Mondays and Wednesdays.
The court also ordered him to continue his education in Turkish literature, a condition that departs from the measures typically applied in such cases.
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