11 years for wearing ‘poshu’

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Univeristy student Kırmızıgül has already served 25 months in jail and has now been sentenced to 11 years and 3 months. DHA photo

A Turkish court has sentenced Cihan Kırmızıgül, a university student who was arrested in 2010 for wearing a “poshu” scarf near a grocery store that was attacked by unidentified individuals wearing the same garment, to 11 years and 3 months in jail.

The charges against him included aiding a criminal organization and damaging property.

Kırmızıgül, a junior industrial engineering student at Istanbul’s Galatasaray University, has appeared eight times before the court since a secret witness testified against him.

Kırmızıgül was taken into custody for wearing a poshu scarf on Feb. 20, 2010, when a group of unidentified individuals also wearing poshu scarves attacked an empty grocery store with Molotov cocktails in the same area. He has already served 25 months in jail under current charges.

The case has come under widespread criticism.