Ankara, Turkey - Abdulbasi Karakus, the leader of a Rihai Sufi religious sect, was sentenced to nine months of imprisonment after the metal skewers and swords he used to pierce followers during a religious ceremony were deemed weapons.
This punishment was later reduced to a fine and adjourned.
The decision was upheld by the Court of Appeals. The court agreed that swords and skewers, inserted into different parts of the body as part of the ‘Burhan’ ceremony of what is described as the first Sufi sect in Anatolia, should be considered weapons.