In 1937 at the age of 16, Balaban was sentenced to six months in Bursa Prison and payment of a fine for growing cannabis, a crime he allegedly did not commit. His sentence was increased to three years in prison because he was unable to pay the fine. He jobbed in the prison as a barber to earn money. After serving his first prison term, he was convicted a second time on the charge of murdering a former fellow inmate, who was his accomplice from his alleged first conviction as well as a rival in love for his first wife, Fadime. Balaban sent to the prison island İmralı, where he served until 1947. Then he was transferred back to Bursa Prison. In 1950, Balaban was released in the framework of a general amnesty. Following the 1960 Turkish coup d'état, during the military junta rule in 1961, he was jailed for six months, this time for the political character of his paintings.