Yahoo – AFP , Dilay Gundogan, January 20, 2016
Istanbul (AFP) - A Turkish court on Wednesday sentenced a woman to almost a year in jail for making an obscene hand gesture at President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in an anti-government protest in 2014, reports said Tuesday.
Istanbul (AFP) - A Turkish court on Wednesday sentenced a woman to almost a year in jail for making an obscene hand gesture at President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in an anti-government protest in 2014, reports said Tuesday.
Filiz
Akinci was convicted of making an offensive hand gesture at Erdogan -- then
prime minister -- while his bus was passing on his way to a rally for local
elections in the western city of Izmir in March 2014.
In the
sixth hearing of the trial on Wednesday, the court in Izmir sentenced Akinci,
an economist and a mother-of-two, to 11 months and 20 days in jail, Dogan news
agency reported.
The court
had originally sentenced her to six months in jail, but doubled it because the
"victim" was a public official, Dogan added.
Akinci's
sentence was eventually reduced by ten days due to her "good
behaviour" during the trial. She was also ordered to pay 1,800 Turkish
lira ($590; 540 euros) in legal costs to Erdogan's lawyer Sema Cansu Bozkurt
Sutcu.
"I am
not guilty. I didn't commit any crime," Akinci told the court, breaking
down into tears when the verdict was read out.
The judges
did not suspend her sentence as in most cases in the past against suspects
facing legal proceedings on accusations of insulting Erdogan or other top officials.
Concerns
have mounted in recent months over freedom of expression in Turkey, in
particular over the spiralling numbers of Turks being taken to court on charges
of insulting Erdogan, accused by his opponents of increasing authoritarianism.
Prosecutors
last week even opened an investigation against the leader of the main
opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Kemal Kilicdaroglu for insulting the
president by calling him a "tinpot dictator".
Without
naming her, Erdogan had in a speech after the incident lashed out at Akinci for
making the gesture, saying: "You did this when the prime minister of this
country was passing by. I would understand if it was a man, but I do not
understand how a woman could do it."
Izmir, a
port city on the Aegean coast, is seen as a bastion of secularism where
Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) fares far less well than
in its Anatolian strongholds.
Erdogan,
who became president in August 2014 after almost 12 years as prime minister,
faced street protests after a corruption scandal erupted in December 2013,
implicating his key allies.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.