Turkish journalist faces eight years in jail for ‘insulting Erdoğan’

ISTANBUL

An Istanbul prosecutor has demanded up to eight years and two months in jail for Today’s Zaman’s editor-in-chief, Bülent Keneş, for insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on social media and in his statements. 

The indictment was prepared upon complaints by the lawyers representing the president. 

The head of the English-language daily was detained for “openly insulting the president” on Oct. 8 and was released by court, but continued committing the same crime, the indictment claimed. 

The prosecutor for press crimes recalled that his “repeated insults” at a press conference after being released proved the “density of the intention” for the crime and he was arrested again on Oct. 10.

The prosecutor said some of Keneş’s tweets could not be considered within the limits of freedom of expression, demanding between 18 months and eight years and two months in jail time for the journalist. 

Keneş will again be on the stand if the court approves the indictment. 

His remarks, saying “I will make them regret this” and “They will also regret that they freed me,” were included in a separate investigation into alleged threatening behavior.