Turkey has detained a well-known television journalist for comments she made on air about President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Police detained Sedef Kabas at her home at 2am on Saturday, hours after she aired the comments, then posted them on Twitter to her 900,000 followers.
She was formally arrested after appearing in court.
The crime of insulting the president carries a jail sentence of one to four years in Turkey.
The alleged insult was in the form of a palace-related proverb that Kabas expressed both on an opposition television channel and on her Twitter account, drawing condemnation from government officials.
Merdan Yanardag, chief editor of the Tele 1 channel on which Kabas made the comment, sharply criticised her arrest.
“Her detention overnight at 2am because of a proverb is unacceptable,” he wrote on Twitter. “This stance is an attempt to intimidate journalists, the media and society.”
“A so-called journalist is blatantly insulting our president on a television channel that has no goal other than spreading hatred,” Erdogan's chief spokesman Fahrettin Altun said.
“I condemn this arrogance, this immorality in the strongest possible terms. This is not only immoral, it is also irresponsible.”
But the Turkish journalists' union called Kabas's arrest a “serious attack on freedom of expression".
Last October, Europe's top human rights court called on Turkey to change the legislation after ruling that a man's detention under the law violated his freedom of expression.
Thousands have been charged and sentenced over the crime of insulting Mr Erdogan in the seven years since he moved from being prime minister to president.
In 2020, 31,297 investigations were launched in relation to the charge, 7,790 cases were filed and 3,325 resulted in convictions, according to Justice Ministry data. Those numbers were slightly lower than in the previous year.
Since 2014, the year Erdogan became president, 160,169 investigations were launched over insulting the president, 35,507 cases were filed and there were 12,881 convictions.
Reporters Without Borders ranked Turkey 153rd out of 180 in its 2021 press freedom index.
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
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Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
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Know your Camel lingo
The bairaq is a competition for the best herd of 50 camels, named for the banner its winner takes home
Namoos - a word of congratulations reserved for falconry competitions, camel races and camel pageants. It best translates as 'the pride of victory' - and for competitors, it is priceless
Asayel camels - sleek, short-haired hound-like racers
Majahim - chocolate-brown camels that can grow to weigh two tonnes. They were only valued for milk until camel pageantry took off in the 1990s
Millions Street - the thoroughfare where camels are led and where white 4x4s throng throughout the festival
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