A senior Turkish journalist has been arrested after comparing Erdogan to Taurus
Police arrested Saddam Kabash at her home in Istanbul, following a proverb she said on television and interpreted as a mockery of the president.
"Attack on the will of the people", attacked a senior member of the ruling party, while the opposition condemned: "Justice will return to Turkey."
Some 13,000 people have been convicted in recent years of violating a law banning "insulting" the president
News agencies
23/01/2022
Sunday, January 23, 2022, 4:50 p.m.
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A senior Turkish journalist was arrested yesterday (Saturday) ahead of the start of her trial for insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said Sadaf Kabash's lawyer, who was taken into custody after quoting a proverb on a TV show and social media referring to Taurus. Tens of thousands of people have been prosecuted in Turkey for insulting the president since Erdogan took office in 2014 after more than a decade as prime minister.
"There is a famous proverb that says a head with a crown on it becomes smarter, but we see that this is not true," she said on Aries Channel 1, which is affiliated with the opposition. "A bull does not become a king just because he enters a palace, but the palace becomes a barn." She also posted this quote on Twitter, but denied the allegations against her regarding Erdogan's insult.
Kabash's lawyer, 53, tweeted that she was officially arrested after appearing before a judge in Istanbul yesterday.
The judge accepted the prosecution's contention that she might flee the country.
The journalist, who has presented a string of popular TV shows throughout her three-decade career, was arrested yesterday morning at her home in Istanbul.
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The arrest of the journalist
Cabinet members condemned the journalist, while the opposition defended her right to express herself as she wished.
"Insulting our nation's president-elect in ugly and blatant terms is in fact an attack on the will of the nation," tweeted Numan Kartulmosh, the ruling party's deputy leader.
Marel Exner, one of the opposition leaders, tweeted a statement of support for Kabash.
"This mood will pass and justice will return to Turkey again," she wrote.
The maximum penalty for insulting the president is four years in prison.
According to Interior Ministry data, more than 35,500 cases have been opened since 2014 due to Erdogan's insult, and nearly 13,000 of them ended in convictions.
Marden Inardg, the editor-in-chief of Aries 1, has sharply criticized her arrest.
"Arrest at 2:00 at night due to a proverb is not unacceptable," he wrote on Twitter. "This position is an attempt to intimidate journalists, the media and society."
In October, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the freedom of expression of a Turkish citizen was violated when he was arrested in 2017 on suspicion of violating a law banning insulting the country’s leader.
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