A Turkish citizen was fined for sharing a meme comparing Lord of the Rings’ character Gollum with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, accused of “insulting” the President, daily BirGün reported.

Rıfat Çetin, a resident of Turkey’s Mediterranean province of Antalya, has shared a post via his Facebook account where three different pictures of Erdoğan and the character were compared.

Çetin faced more than one year in prison, while the court decided to debar the man from his parental rights and his right to be trustee. The court suspended his sentence for five years for good conduct.

“I cannot understand how a post shared during Erdoğan’s rule as prime minister was turned into a case of insulting the President” said Çetin, adding he was charged two times for the same post. “I will object to the decision” he said.

Case of Bilgin Çiftçi

The incident followed the famous case of Bilgin Çiftçi, a doctor based in Aegean province of Aydın who was accused of “insulting a public official” with this meme that he has shared through his personal Facebook account.

Serving as doctor, Çiftçi was barred from the family health hospital where he had been working, over the accusations of “insulting statesmen”.

Çiftçi’s trial was adjourned so that a group of trustee can study the Lord of the Rings character, and determine whether the comparison was an insult.