MOSCOW, December 25 (Sputnik) — A 16-year-old school student in the Turkish province of Konya has been arrested for insulting the country's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish newspaper Hurryiet Daily News reported Thursday.
According to the newspaper, the student, a member of the Democrat High School Students group on Facebook, was delivering a speech on December 23 when he cited the anti-corruption operation carried out last year in the country.
#Turkish court arrests 16-year-old student for insulting President #Erdoğan http://t.co/89AoWN51tx pic.twitter.com/LkSJ59WvQd
— Hurriyet Daily News (@HDNER) 25 декабря 2014
The next day, the student was detained at school and taken to the police station. Later, he was taken to court and arrested for insulting Erdogan in his speech. At the moment, the student faces up to four years in prison. In his defense, he claims he is not guilty and did not imply any insult.
19 December 2014, 20:16 GMT
In December 2013, Turkey conducted an anti-corruption operation that resulted in the detention of many officials, businessmen and their relatives over suspicions of fraud, bribery and abuse of power. Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan, Interior Minister Muammer Guler, European Affairs Minister Affairs Egemen Bagis and Environment and Urban Planning Minister Erdogan Bayraktar were accused of corruption, and subsequently resigned.
