yunhap news-In Turkey, the head of a pseudo-religious group accused of sexual violence, sexual abuse of minors, and espionage has been sentenced to over 1,000 years in prison.
According to local media such as Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency and the largest daily newspaper Whiriyet, the Istanbul court sentenced cult leader Adnan Octar, 64, to 1,75 years and 3 months in prison on the 11th (local time). .
Octar was arrested in July 2018, along with more than 200 members, on 15 charges including organizing a criminal organization, sexual abuse of minors, sexual assault, tax evasion, torture, human rights violations, and firearms threats.
On that day, 236 defendants belonging to his religious group, including Octar, were tried in court.
After dropping out of college in the 1980s, Octar was arrested for promoting the theocratic revolution, and gained fame by writing a book claiming anti-evolution under the pseudonym’Harun Yahya’.
From the 2000s, he established a TV channel called’A9′ and appeared on talk shows to preach his anti-evolutionary idea.
Before he was arrested, he appeared on a program called’Kitons’ (kitten) and expressed his views on religious and social issues, surrounded by women wearing heavy makeup.
According to the prosecution, he has been recruiting and brainwashing believers using his organization since the 1990s.
He and other believers indoctrinated women using religious teachings as an excuse, and it turned out that they were intimidating the victims by cheating as if they had recorded a scene of sexual assault on women.
Octar denied the allegations of sexual crimes in court, saying, “I am overflowing with love for women and have 1,000 close girlfriends.”
However, a victim known as C·C testified that Octar repeatedly raped her and other women, and that some of the rape victims were forced to take birth control pills.
In response, Octar replied that about 69,000 contraceptives found in her home were used to treat skin diseases.
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