A Turkish court has jailed pending trial a woman known on social media as the “Marilyn Monroe of Mardin” over a post questioning the official account of the July 15, 2016, coup attempt, the DHA news agency reported on Friday.
Melek Akarmut, 50, was arrested on charges of “publicly disseminating misleading information” after being detained by police in the southeastern province of Mardin.
Police launched an investigation after determining that her social media posts about the coup attempt contained potentially criminal content, DHA reported.
Akarmut was referred to the Mardin Courthouse after questioning by police and subsequently arrested by a judge on the same charge. She was sent to a prison in Mardin.
In one Instagram post Akarmut wrote, “The unanswered questions of July 15: Where is parliament’s July 15 report? A coup — if you buy that.”
A message posted on her account by relatives after her arrest said she had been jailed merely for expressing a personal opinion and sharing a video about July 15.
Akarmut is locally known as the “Marilyn Monroe of Mardin” because of her blond hair, makeup and clothing inspired by the American film star. Originally from the western province of Afyonkarahisar, she moved to Mardin with her husband more than a decade ago and became known for selling soap and cologne from a small shop to raise money for stray animals.
The charge against Akarmut was introduced in 2022 under Article 217/A of the Turkish Penal Code.
It criminalizes publicly disseminating “false information” about the country’s domestic or external security, public order or public health with the intent to cause fear, panic or concern among the public and carries a prison sentence of between one and three years.
Rights groups and media organizations have repeatedly criticized the law, commonly known as the “disinformation law,” saying its vague wording allows prosecutors to target criticism of the government and reporting that contradicts official accounts.
Akarmut was previously sentenced to two years in prison for violating privacy after posting footage of a taxi driver running over a dog sleeping on the pavement outside her shop. She began serving the sentence in January but was later released.
Her latest arrest comes amid heightened scrutiny of social media commentary about the coup attempt around its 10th anniversary and renewed debate over unanswered questions surrounding the events of July 15.
More than 250 people were killed on that night, when members of the military deployed tanks and warplanes, bombed parliament and attempted to seize key state institutions.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has accused the faith-based Gülen movement of orchestrating the coup attempt and designated it as a terrorist organization. The movement strongly denies involvement in the coup or any terrorist activity.
Yet questions have persisted over advance intelligence received that day, the response of senior military and intelligence officials and the circumstances surrounding several key events.
The government has also prosecuted journalists, academics, politicians and social media users for challenging its account of the coup or questioning the conduct of officials before, during and after the events.
The parliamentary commission established to investigate the coup concluded its hearings in late 2016 and released a draft report in May 2017, but the final report was never formally published or debated by parliament.
The inquiry has faced persistent criticism for failing to hear key figures in person, including then-chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar and then-intelligence chief Hakan Fidan, or to fully examine unresolved allegations.
Critics say parliament therefore failed to conduct a comprehensive inquiry capable of answering outstanding questions about the coup attempt.
Meanwhile, Akarmut’s arrest came on the same day that a court jailed Nasuh Mahruki, the founder and former head of Turkey’s leading search-and-rescue group AKUT, over a separate post about the coup attempt. Mahruki was arrested on Friday on charges of “inciting hatred and hostility or degrading the public.”
In the post Mahruki alleged that officials had known about the coup plot in advance but allowed it to proceed in a controlled manner to facilitate a change in Turkey’s system of government.
This article is republished from Turkish Minute.
