CHP MP submits parliamentary question for arrested Cumhuriyet canteen manager for ‘insulting Erdoğan’

ANKARA

A deputy from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has asked in a parliamentary question why the canteen manager of the daily Cumhuriyet was arrested after he allegedly said he would not serve tea to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan if he came to the newspaper’s offices. 

Barış Yarkadaş, CHP’s Istanbul deputy and a member of the party’s media commission, submitted a parliamentary question to Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım on Dec. 26 regarding the arrest of Şenol Buran, who was arrested on charges of insulting the president, after a police officer overheard his conversation. 

Yarkadaş added that the canteen manager was treated as a potential guilty only because he worked for the daily.

“Since when has this been regarded as a crime?” Yarkadaş said. 

“Buran was arrested on charges of insulting the president. There is no evidence, legal backing or conscience,” he said, while adding that there was no permission from Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ on the investigation.

Yarkadaş stated that the judge ruled the decision without investigating the public prosecutor’s report.

“There is an infringement by the authorities. The judge used Bozdağ’s authority without his permission. He did not see the need for the prosecutor’s interrogation. This means lawlessness,” Yarkadaş added.

The deputy also said that Buran had previously engaged in a row with the police officer who reported him, but this fact had been rejected by the court board.

The Istanbul 11th Criminal Court of Peace ordered for Buran’s arrest on Dec. 25, Cumhuriyet has reported.

Buran reportedly said in his testimony that he arrived late for work on Dec. 24 because President Erdoğan’s visit to an event near the daily’s office blocked nearby roads.  

Buran, in a conversation, said he would not serve tea to the president if he ever came to the newspaper. The canteen manager, in his testimony, claimed that he uttered such words but did not intend to accuse the president.