Preciousssss evidence: Experts asked by judge to say if Gollum is a villain

Experts have been asked to analyse the Lord Of The Rings character Gollum to decide whether a doctor should be jailed for comparing him to the Turkish president. Two academics, two behavioral scientists or psychologists and an expert on cinema and television productions are being drafted in to help with the ruling in the case of Bilgin Ciftci. It comes after the judge admitted he had not seen all the movies and Ciftci’s defence team argued Gollum was not a bad character. The doctor is facing up to two years in prison for insulting Recep Tayyip Erdogan by sharing images comparing him to JRR Tolkien’s thin, pale creature on social media. He was sacked in October from the Public Health Institution of Turkey over the images, which show Mr Erdogan and Gollum in similar poses eating, expressing surprise and amazement. The chief judge, who had been unable to reach a decision after four days of evidence, has postponed the hearing in the western province of Aydin until February next year.