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 Erdoğan after he said, “Even the crusaders haven’t hurt Turkey as much as Erdoğan.”
In a post on his said to mean.
“Workers who had to survive on minimum wage, retirees living below starvation standards have been 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 (CHP), 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 definitely bow to the will of the people and leave their seats. This is a promise to our nation,” Imamoglu said in a post on X.
At a press conference after the decision, Moussabat Derbishoglu, head of the nationalist opposition Iyi party, said the ruling party was trying to sabotage the opposition by intimidating, discrediting and intimidating them. (Reuters)
