Activist “Proportionally” Arrested For Insulting the President

Freedom and Solidarity Party’s (ÖDP) Izmir Provincial board member and United June Movement Izmir coordination member Onur Kılıç has been arrested for insulting the president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Ayça Söylemez

Activist “Proportionally” Arrested For Insulting the President

Freedom and Solidarity Party’s (ÖDP) Izmir Provincial board member and United June Movement Izmir coordination member Onur Kılıç have been arrested due to charges related to “insulting the president”.

Izmir 5^th Peace Court issued the ruling according to Turkish Penal Code Article 299/1-2 on insulting the president and added that the arrest was made “proportionally” and “under the suspicion that the suspect could run away”.

What happened?

Onur Kılıç has been detained yesterday after an anti-terror police raid into an apartment he was visiting.

The aforementioned charges were claimed to take place on January 11 where Kılıç attended a protest organized by United June Movement in Izmir on secular and scientific education. Kılıç is accused of calling the president “thief and killer”.

Kılıç was also expected to show on a popular news show on CNN Türk yesterday to explain about the school boycott for a secular and scientific education”. He is listed as one of the organizers of the movement.

After his detention, Kılıç wrote a tweet explaining the incident and added: “By the way, let me repeat: thief-killer Erdoğan!” (AS/BM)

* Click here to read the article in Turkish.

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Boğaziçi Üniversitesi Felsefe Bölümü mezunu. Mimar Sinan Güzel Sanatlar Üniversitesi Sosyoloji bölümünde yüksek lisans yaptı. Marmara Üniversitesi İletişim Bilimleri’nde doktora yapıyor. Vatan, Akşam, HaberTürk ve Hürriyet gazetelerinin yazıişleri ve dış haberler bölümünde çalıştı. Güncel Hukuk dergisinde yazıları yayınlandı. BirGün’de Anonim adlı köşeyi yazıyor. 2011’den bu yana bianet’te İnsan Hakları Editörü.