A Turkish astrologer who was jailed for social media posts predicting serious health issues for Devlet Bahçeli, a key ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has been released after spending two months behind bars, the T24 news website reported on Thursday.
Hilal Saraç, who describes herself as a medical astrologer, was arrested in early February after she posted predictions claiming that Bahçeli, the leader of the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), had a “very serious lung condition” and would not live to see the next election, which she said would be held early.
Her comments came as Bahçeli was hospitalized and underwent heart valve surgery.
“In my opinion, Devlet Bahçeli should have his lungs checked. And if I’m the country’s best medical astrologer — which I am — he has a very serious lung condition and shortness of breath. … You can try to hide it, but if I say it’s there, it’s there,” Saraç wrote on February 6.
“Honestly, he won’t live to see the election. And the election will be held early, anyway,” she added later the same day, explaining that while she wasn’t brave enough to name names, she believed her audience would be able to figure it out.
The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation into Saraç over allegations that she publicly insulted Erdoğan and Bahçeli in her tweets posted on February 6. She was taken into custody and, after questioning, was put in pretrial detention by a criminal court of peace.
Saraç announced her release on April 9 on X, saying, “I had said hope cannot be handcuffed. Thank God, I’ve been released. I embrace with love all the hearts that prayed for me.”
It was not immediately clear whether the astrologer was released pending trial or if the investigation has been dropped.
The government of President Erdoğan is regularly accused of muzzling freedom of expression.
Turkey, where internet freedom has steadily declined over the past decade, ranks among the “not free” countries concerning online freedoms, according to a report released in October by the US-based Freedom House.