Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy provincial chairman of Batman province Hüseyin Yaşar has been handed down a suspended prison sentence of 11 months 20 days on charges of insulting Turkey’s autocratic President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, reported Birgün daily on Friday.
Yaşar, who criticized the court verdict and denied insult allegations said: “My criticisms were counted as an insult. I did not insult him [Erdoğan]. Punishments will not prevent us from fighting. My punishment has been suspended but we will continue saying what we know is true.”
According to the report, Yaşar has been accused of insulting Erdoğan in a speech he made during the opening of a local branch of his party before a Turkish general election in June 2015.
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. (turkishminute.com) June 23, 2017
