January 22, 2025 10:11 AM (IST)
Türkiye-Politics/Opposition-Arrested: Turkish opposition leader goes on trial for inciting public hatred
ISTANBUL — A Turkish court late Tuesday ordered far-right Victory Party leader Umit Ozdag to be detained pending trial on charges of inciting public hatred through social media, prompting widespread condemnation from opposition leaders.
Ozdag was arrested on Monday on suspicion of insulting Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan after he said that “even the Crusades did not hurt Turkey as much as President Erdogan.”
In a post on his said to mean.
“Workers who had to survive on minimum wage, retirees living below starvation standards are arrested!…You can arrest me, but you can’t silence me without killing me!”
Ozgur Ozer, leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party, protested the arrest of Ozder, who had expressed support for the CHP’s presidential candidate in the 2023 elections.
Ozer said the arrest decision was a murder of justice, destroying both democracy and the independence of the judiciary.
Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu also protested Ozdag’s arrest, saying it amounted to political interference in the judiciary.
“The spirits that signed these practices will surely bow to the will of the people and leave their seats. This is our promise to our country,” Imamoglu said in a post on X.
At a press conference after the decision, Moussabat Derbishoglu, leader of the nationalist opposition Iyi party, said the ruling party was trying to sabotage the opposition by intimidating, discrediting and intimidating them.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to the text.
