The 53-year-old TV veteran Sedef Kabas was arrested at her home on Saturday night, a few hours after she made the allegedly insulting words on TV and then shared them with her 900,000 followers on Twitter.
Kabas’ crime was to quote a saying about an ox that Erdogan perceived as an insult.
– This offense should not go unpunished. It is our duty to defend respect for my function, for the presidency. This has nothing to do with freedom of speech, Erdogan told a private television channel.
He had only contempt left over for a proposal from the opposition to remove the insult law against the president, which can carry imprisonment for up to four years and which has been used against tens of thousands of people in recent years.
Turkey’s journalists’ union calls the arrest of Kabas a serious attack on freedom of expression. Human rights groups regularly accuse Turkey of undermining press freedom by arresting journalists.
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