Gökhan Güçlü, a non-commissioned officer, who is one of the suspects on trial for an assassination attempt against Turkish autocratic President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on the night of a controversial coup on July 15, 2016, face up to 5 years in prison for wearing a T-shirt that bore the word ‘HERO’ during a court hearing.
The prosecutor in charge also seeks 5-year jail term for Güçlü’s elder sister Bahar for sending the T-shirt to jailed brother.
Güçlü was thrown out of a courtroom in July for wearing the hero T-shirt. The siblings are accused of making propaganda on behalf of a terrorist organization.
Any material bearing the word “hero” has become suspicious following a series of detentions across Turkey of people wearing T-shirts bearing the word the controversial word. At least 41 people have been detained for wearing such T-shirts since summer.
Turkish Airlines (THY) stopped distribution of its “Heroes” kits to children on board its planes during overseas flights. Meanwhile, Mustafa Kaya, the district director of national education in İzmir’s Seferihisar was taken into custody over his picture taken near a ‘hero’ graffiti, last week. (turkeypurge.com)