Turkish influencer faces up to two years in prison for picture of Amsterdam Sex Museum
Turkish influencer Merve Taşkin was arrested in her home country for glorifying sex toys after posting a picture of the Amsterdam Sex Museum on her profile in January of this year, Het Parool reported.
Taşkin came to Amsterdam to celebrate her 22nd birthday along with two friends. She posted pictures of her trip to the Netherlands on her Instagram page which has over five hundred thousand followers. One of the pictures she took was a street view of the Amsterdam Sex Museum in the center of the Dutch capital city.
Due to this image, she was charged with promoting lewd material which carries a prison sentence of between six months to two years. “I gave my statement to the police. I thought it was over but months later I was arrested again. This was during my vacation in Canakkale. I was held for one night and I gave prosecutors a statement about the posts. He said after I was free to go”, Tasşkin said to Het Parool via WhatsApp messages. "I don't want to go to prison."
“The post was made abroad. What does that mean for Turkish/Dutch people if they post such images?”, Nuri, a 23-year-old man from Amsterdam with a Turkish background, wondered. He acted as a tour guide for Taskin on her trip to Amsterdam. Taskin claimed to have removed several tweets and posts in the past one and a half years out of fear of repercussion.
An employee of the Sex Museum told the Het Parool that he was not aware of a similar incident where a visitor was arrested for taking pictures of the museum.