More than 128,000 Turks are under investigation for insulting Erdogan

Ankara,(ST)-The Turkish Zaman newspaper reported that more than 128,000 people were under investigation within a five year period for insulting the President of the Turkish regime, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The newspaper pointed out that within the scope of Article 299 of the Special Turkish Penal Code, which provides for the punishment of those accused of insulting the President, 128,872 people were investigated and 27,717 cases were opened between 2014 and 2019, and in these cases in which 903 children were tried, various convictions were issued against 9,556 people, indicating that After 2019, thousands of people have been tried or convicted of this crime.

The newspaper pointed out that “people have appeared before the public prosecutor on charges of insulting Erdogan, and among them are artists who expressed their views on television, people who were reported by those sitting at a neighboring table during a chat in a park, and others who were reported by their wives after a quarrel broke out between them. “Noting that the last people to be questioned on this accusation are women who participated in the March 8 night women’s march recently.

Turkish human rights defender Celal Ulgan said, “The arrest of women for insulting Erdogan is a tragic event … We laugh at this, but no one has the right to make the ruling so ridiculous … It is a clear explanation of the type of legal reform envisioned by Erdogan,” considering that “the attempt to suppress criticism because of the charge Insulting the president will have a deterrent effect on a democratic society, creating an effect against the exercise of freedom of expression.

Haifaa Mafalani