Five more people detained, 1 arrested for wearing ‘hero’ T-shirts in Turkey

Two factory workers in Sakarya province, two university students in Antalya were detained and a hotel worker in Antalya was arrested after co-workers reported them to the police for wearing T-shirts bearing the word “hero.” According to the Diken news website, police took the two workers in Sakarya into custody and an investigation was launched into them.

The state-run Anadolu news agency also reported that Muhammet Ş., a hotel worker in Antalya, was detained after his co-workers reported him to police on Friday. Muhammet Ş. was arrested by a court on charges of spreading the propaganda of a terrorist organization.

Also, following a tip from people, Antalya police investigated the records of the MOBES cams and realized that two students who wear “Hero” T-shirts went to the campus of Akdeniz University. Police teams detained the university students Ç.G. and E.E. and put under custody at Konyaaltı District Police Department. The students reportedly said that they do not follow the agenda and they do not know the related T-shirts have been forbidden in Turkey.

Meanwhile, in Çanakkale province, police has detained 17 years-old B.K., who wears “Hero” T-shirt, in İskele Square of the city following a tip given by the people.

Several people in Turkey have recently been detained for wearing “hero” T-shirts, which became an issue when Gökhan Güçlü, one of the suspects on trial for an assassination attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on the night of a coup attempt last year, was thrown out of the courtroom last Thursday for wearing a similar T-shirt.

On July 17, Emirhan B., who was detained when he was attending a coup trial at Ankara’s Sincan Courthouse on Monday, was subsequently arrested by a court. Emirhan B. said he was not aware of the meaning of the word “hero” on the T-shirt that he bought from a shop.

On July 19, Turkish police detained four people wearing a similar T-shirts in Eskişehir, Aydın and Elazığ provinces, one day after two university students were taken into custody in Erzurum for wearing hero T-shirts.

On July 18, two university students were detained for wearing hero T-shirts in Erzurum province’s Yakutiye district. In their testimonies, the students reportedly said they bought the T-shirts from a store in the city and that they had not heard anything about Güçlü.

According to the private İhlas news agency, the textile firm that manufactures the hero T-shirts stopped production after discussions with the police. The T-shirts were withdrawn from sale in stores and online, İhlas said. (turkishminute.com) July 22, 2017

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