Construction worker arrested for ‘insulting’ Erdoğan on social media

KOCAELİ – Doğan News Agency

DHA photo

A construction worker in Dilovası district of Kocaeli was arrested by a local court for insulting the Turkish president on the social media. 

Dilaver Sarı was arrested upon a court ruling from his house in Dilovası. Sarı, father of two, was called to the Dilovası police center on Dec. 19 for his testimony over his statements in the social media. After his testimony, Sarı was sent to Gebze Courthouse on the charges of “insulting President” Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and making “propaganda of a terrorist organization.”

Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Dilovası district branch head Kamuran Onay came to the courthouse and condemned the arrest of Sarı, also a HDP member.

Since Erdoğan’s election as president last August, the number of prosecutions for insulting the head of state has risen, with victims including artists and journalists, as well as schoolchildren.

In Early October, Bülent Keneş, the editor-in-chief of English-language daily newspaper Today’s Zaman, was detained on suspicion of insulting Erdoğan in a series of tweets.

In addition, a schoolboy, initially thought to be 15, was detained by police in the Central Anatolian province of Kayseri for allegedly “insulting” Erdoğan before being released when the court determined he was in fact 14.