Gollum or Smeagol? Peter Jackson weighs into Turkish insult court row

Gollum appears in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy. Or is it Smeagol?

Peter Jackson has weighed into a bizarre Turkish court case that centres on a debate around whether Lord of the Rings character Gollum is good or evil.

The case is based on a tweet sent by doctor Bilgin Ciftci, who allegedly insulted President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the social media site.

Criticising the president is illegal in Turkey, and Ciftci faces up to two years in prison for the tweet that juxtaposed pictures of Gollum and Erdogan.

A medical doctor's job is terminated by the state for sharing this picture#BilginCiftci #AKP @RT_Erdogan pic.twitter.com/C7E87t1KQ7

— A.Kadir Yildirim (@akyildirim) October 15, 2015

Jackson has entered the fray with Rings scriptwriters Fran Walsh and Phillippa Boyens, the trio telling The Wrap the photos weren't of Gollum - they were of Smeagol, Gollum's "joyful, sweet" better half.

"If the images [above] are in fact the ones forming the basis of this Turkish lawsuit, we can state categorically: None of them feature the character known as Gollum. All of them are images of the character called Smeagol," Jackson wrote in his statement.

"Smeagol is a joyful, sweet character. Smeagol does not lie, deceive or attempt to manipulate others. He is not evil, conniving or malicious - these personality traits belong to Gollum, who should never be confused with Smeagol.

"Smeagol would never dream of wielding power over those weaker than himself. He is not a bully. In fact he's very lovable. This is why audiences all over the world have warmed to his character."

In the films, Smeagol is corrupted by the power of the ring, turned him into the rogue character Gollum.

Lawyer Hicran Danisman said she was forced to argue in court this week that "Gollum is not a bad character" because she got "nowhere" with a defence case based on freedom of expression.

Danisman said that prompted the judge to rule that a committee, including psychologists and movie experts, should provide an assessment of Gollum's character.

The trial was adjourned until February 23.

- With AP