Turkey: 16-year-old jailed for drawing ‘Hitler’ mustache on Erdoğan poster

A 16-year-old boy from Mersina in southern Turkey was arrested and taken to prison on Wednesday for drawing a “Hitler” moustache on a campaign poster of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, some media close to the opposition are reporting.

According to Cumhuriyet and BirGün newspapers, as well as Halk TV, the high school student was accused of “drawing Hitler’s moustache with a pen and writing offensive comments” on a poster with the Turkish president’s face, which was put up near the house of.

Police reviewed surveillance video and identified the assailant, who was arrested at home, according to reports. During questioning, “he admitted that he drew the moustache, but denied that he wrote comments.”

The 16-year-old was brought before a prosecutor, summarily accused of “insulting the president”, and is being held in a juvenile prison in Tarsus, Halk TV reported.

“Insulting the president” is one of the most frequently charged charges in Turkey, with 16,753 cases registered in 2022, according to Justice Ministry statistics.

69-year-old Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has secured a new five-year term as president, defeating opposition candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu in a runoff election.

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