A.Ş., 13, was handed down a 21-month suspended sentence for allegedly insulting Turkey’s autocratic President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on social media, the Artı Gerçek news website reported on Saturday.
According to the report, the İstanbul 2nd Juvenile Court first ruled for a 3 year, 6 month sentence but reduced it to 1 year, 9 months because A.Ş. is under 15 years of age. The court suspended the sentence on condition that A.Ş. not commit the same crime over the next year.
It is noteworthy that the court ruled for a prison sentence despite the fact that Erdoğan had withdrawn his complaint.
Scores of people in Turkey have been detained or arrested or are under investigation on allegations of insulting Erdoğan. As of the end of 2016, at least 10,000 people were under investigation on suspicion of terrorist propaganda and insulting senior state officials on social media.
A total of 1,080 people were convicted of insulting Erdoğan in 2016, according to data from Turkey’s Justice Ministry. Data also showed that 4,936 cases were launched against people on charges of insult in 2016.
Turkey has turned into a prison for children. According to a statement by the Turkish Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gül, as of October 6, there are 2.671 children in prisons. (SCF with turkishminute.com)
