Former Miss Turkey charged with insulting the president

Miss Turkey for the year 2006 has been found guilty for sharing a poem which allegedly insults the current head of state of Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The offense is punishable by law, and this latest news has created quite a stir nationwide.

Since the time President Erdogan became president in 2014, more than 2000 defamation cases have been filed in two years under a law which bans insulting the president of the state. Under the same law, many notable personalities including journalists, academics, politicians and now models, have been prosecuted under this law.

According to the details provided, former Miss Turkey, named Merve Buyuksarac, has been handed a suspended sentence of 14 months for ‘publicly insulting’ the Turkish President. The sentence remains suspended on the condition that the model does no reoffend within the next five years.

The offense which became a cause for all this trouble is a poem called ‘Master’s Poem’, which hints at the current head of Turkish state’s alleged corruption scandal. Buyuksarac posted this poem on her Instagram account and as soon as it was posted, the model was arrested. The poem did not mention President Erdogan by name, so when she was questioned, Buyuksarac denied that it was about him. However, an old Turkish law was pulled out in her case, which forbids insulting the head of state.

Since 2014, thousands of cases have been registered against those who seem to criticize Erdogan’s policies. Even foreigners are not spared for committing this offense as a German comedian is also being prosecuted in Germany for insulting Erdogan.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=53130

Posted by fatimaarshad on Jun 1 2016. Filed under Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.