Turkish prominent journalist arrested for insulting president Erdogan

A prominent Turkish TV journalist has been detained and could face imprisonment after being charged with insulting the country’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

A Turkish court ordered prominent journalist Sedef Kabas jailed pending trial on a charge of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan under a law that has seen tens of thousands prosecuted.

Police detained Sedef Kabaş at her home at 2am on Saturday and took her to a police station, before she faced court and was jailed pending a trial.

The alleged insult was a proverb that Kabaş expressed both on an opposition television channel and her Twitter account.

The proverb translates to: “When the ox comes to the palace, he does not become a king. But the palace becomes a barn.”

“The honour of the presidency’s office is the honour of our country ... I condemn the vulgar insults made against our president and his office,” Fahrettin Altun, head of Turkey’s communications directorate and Erdogan’s chief spokesman, said.

Merdan Yanardag, the chief editor of the Tele 1 channel, on which Kabaş made the comment, criticised her arrest.

“Her detention overnight at 2am because of a proverb is unacceptable,” he said. “This stance is an attempt to intimidate journalists, the media and society.”

Insulting Erdogan

Last October, Europe’s top human rights court called on Turkey to change the legislation after ruling that a man’s detention under the law violated his freedom of expression.

Tens of thousands have been charged and sentenced over the crime of insulting Erdogan in the seven years since he moved from being prime minister to president.

In 2020, 31,297 investigations were launched in relation to the charge, 7,790 cases were filed, and 3,325 resulted in convictions, according to justice ministry data. Those numbers were slightly lower than the previous year.

Since 2014, the year Erdogan became president, 160,169 investigations have been launched over insulting the president, 35,507 cases were filed and there were 12,881 convictions.