Cult leader: Turkish cult leader Adnan Oktar has been jailed for 8658 years in a retrial for an array of charges against the televangelist. Oktar hosted a television show surrounded by scantily clad women who he referred to as “kittens”.
This is not the first time that Otkar has been sentenced. The 66-year-old, also known as Harun Yahya, was jailed last year too, on a range of crimes including sexual abuse of minors, fraud and attempted espionage.
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Earlier sentence was overturned
Oktar was sentenced at that time to 1075 years, but an upper court overturned the ruling citing legal shortcomings and ordered a retrial.
But during retrial on Wednesday, Istanbul’s High Criminal Court sentenced Oktar — along with 13 associates — to 8658 years in prison, reports said.
The cult leader became an international name for the talk show he hosted on his own A9 TV channel, which often featured a mix of religious discussions alongside women dancing to modern pop music.
Several women, who left his company, also accused Oktar of subjecting them to sexual slavery.
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Woman alleges sexual assault
A woman testified at one of his trials that Oktar had sexually assaulted her and other women and had even forced them to take contraceptives, it was reported. About 69000 contraceptive pills were reportedly found at Oktar’s home.
Ebru Simsek, a former member of Oktar’s organisation and a model, feared repercussions of leaving his group. Simsek said she was subjected to more than 300 defamation lawsuits from Oktar, who she said was “obsessed” with her after seeing her in a beauty contest on TV in 1994.
Oktar’s prison term of 8658 years is among the longest in Turkey. The highest was 9,803 years and six months slapped earlier.
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