Turkish court gives jail term to high school student over 'insulting Atatürk'

A Turkish court has sentenced a high school student to one year and eight months in prison and released him on charges of “publicly insulting the memory of Atatürk.” The student was arrested last month after public backlash for making “obscene gestures with a photograph of Atatürk.”

Saturday October 14 2023 05:05 pm

Duvar English

An Istanbul court has sentenced a 17-year-old high school student to one year and eight months in prison over “publicly insulting the memory of Atatürk.”

The court also ruled for the release of him, who was in prison for almost one month, Demirören News Agency reported on Oct. 13.

The student was arrested on Sept. 20 over “making obscene gestures with a photograph of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk,” whose video spread over social media before his arrest, stirring a public backlash.

In the final trial, the Anatolian 3rd Juvenile Court sentenced him to one year and eight months in prison.

The sentence will not be applied if the he will not commit another crime within five years.

In the indictment, the prosecutors had sought a jail sentence of up to four years and six months for the student, which was reduced by one third to three years since the defendant is 17 years old.