Turkish prosecutors seek up to 2 years in jail for man who 'insulted' Interior Minister Soylu

Duvar English

Turkish prosecutors have prepared an indictment against a man demanding up to two years and four months in jail for “insulting” Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu on social media.

The man, known only by initials E.E., is accused of "insulting a public official because of his/her duty" over his insulting remarks to a news report on Soylu's mother being hospitalized.

The man was detained last week over his comments, but later released pending trial, which drew criticism from Soylu.

"My mother has been in the hospital for 45 days. This vile person who swore underneath the picture of me and my mother was brought to court and freed on condition of judicial control," Soylu tweeted on Jan. 20. 

Soylu also said that he would “accept it as a provocation” if the relevant man were to be re-arrested following his tweet.

In response to Soylu's remarks, Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gül said on Jan. 21 that he would not receive orders to arrest people and that “there are law and rules” in the country.

A day after Gül's remarks, the man E.E. was this time officially arrested on charges of “insulting” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan over another tweet and sent to jail. In this second case launched against him, the defendant faces a prison term of up to four years as per Article 299 of the Turkish Penal Code.

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