Court sentences evangelist to 8,658 years in prison
In a retrial, a court in Istanbul gave a televangelist, who surrounded himself with scantily-clad women he called “kittens,” a sentence of 8,658 years in prison.
Adnan Oktar, who has been called a “cult leader,” ran TV shows where he preached creationism and conservative values while surrounded by women.
Under the name Harun Yahya, he also wrote books that were published in many different languages around the world.
In 2018, the 66-year-old and hundreds of his followers were arrested after a police raid on his villa showed that he was running a criminal ring under the guise of a heterodox Islamic cult that ran anti-evolution campaigns around the world through different publishing houses and media outlets.
His online A9 TV station was also taken off the air.
Oktar was found guilty of 10 different crimes in January 2021. These crimes included leading a criminal gang, spying on the government and the military, sexually abusing children, raping, blackmailing, and torturing people.
The charges also included helping a group led by the Muslim scholar Fethullah Gulen, who lives in the United States. Turkey says Gulen was behind a failed coup attempt in 2016.
Oktar was given a sentence of 1,075 years at the time, but that was overturned by a higher court.
During Oktar’s retrial, Istanbul’s High Criminal Court sentenced him to 8,658 years in prison on Wednesday for several crimes, including sexual abuse and taking someone’s freedom.
The agency also said that 10 other suspects were each given prison terms of 8,658 years by the court.
The Turkish Daily Sabah says that the sentences did not beat the court’s previous record, which was 9,803 years and six months, but they are still among the longest in the country and the world.
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