A Turkish court has ordered the release of Sadaf Kabash, a well-known journalist, on charges of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Reuters news agency quoted the American broadcaster CNN as saying that Sadaf Kabash has been targeted under a law which has led to lawsuits against thousands of people.Police arrested Sadaf Kabash at about 2 a.m. and took him to Istanbul's Central Police Station, after which he was arraigned in a city court.
During the hearing, the court issued arrest warrants and sent him to jail, CNN reported.
Sadaf Kabash is accused of uttering a saying about the presidential palace on an opposition TV channel and on his Twitter account, which led to him being criticized by government officials.
"The honor of the presidency is the honor of the country," Farhatin Alton, head of Turkey's communications directorate, wrote on Twitter. I condemn the inappropriate statement made in contempt of the President and his office.
Mirdan Yenarda, the editor-in-chief of the Telephone One channel, on which Sadaf Kabash had made a statement, has strongly criticized his arrest.
"Arresting him at 2 am is unacceptable because of a saying he (Sadaf Kabash) said," he wrote on Twitter. The move is an attempt to intimidate journalists, the media and society. "
It should be noted that contempt of the President is punishable by one to four years imprisonment.
In October last year, the European Court of Human Rights asked Turkey to change the law. It was said that such a law violates the freedom of expression of a person.
However, in the seven years since Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan became president in Turkey, thousands have been jailed for insulting him.
According to the Ministry of Justice, there were 31,297 investigations and 7,790 cases in this regard in 2020, as a result of which 3,325 people were convicted.
However, this number was lower than in 2019.
Since 2014, when Recep Tayyip Erdogan became president, there have been 160,169 investigations and 35,507 cases of contempt, while 12,881 people have been convicted.
