A journalist arrested in Turkey is accused of insulting the president
Journalist jailed in Turkey for insulting the country’s president. Turkish journalist Sedef Kabas has been jailed by a Turkish court. Kabas was arrested in Istanbul on Saturday and ordered by a court to be jailed before the trial.
The proverb quoted by Kabas in a live broadcast on a TV channel affiliated with the opposition was allegedly aimed at President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Kabas, however, denied this. The journalist faces up to one to four years in prison.
“There is a very famous saying that a crowned head belongs to a wise man, but we see that it is not true. The bull will not be king only if he enters the palace, the palace will be a barn,” she told Tele11. Later, they tweeted the same words. Erdogan’s spokesman Fahretin Alton called their comments irresponsible.
He tweeted that a so-called journalist on a television channel that had no other purpose than to spread hatred was nakedly insulting our president. Kabas, however, denied that he had insulted the president in court. She said she had no such intention. Mardan Yanardag, editor of Tele1 channel, criticized Kabas’ arrest.
“It is unacceptable that they were detained at two o’clock in the morning for a proverb,” he said. He said the move was an attempt to intimidate journalists, the media and the community. Erdogan was prime minister for 11 years before becoming the country’s first directly elected president in August 2014. His silencing of critics has caused concern in EU countries. This cooled relations with the European Union and prevented Turkey from attempting to join the EU. Erdogan has been charged with insulting thousands of people since he became president. By 2020, more than 31,000 inquiries have been filed in connection with the crime, Reuters news agency reports.
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