Turkish leader using slander law to stifle dissent, say critics

AN alarming number of Turks from students to celebrities are facing criminal charges over draconian laws prohibiting insult or disrespect to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, fuelling criticism that they are aimed at stifling dissent.

Erdogan’s opponents accuse him of increasing megalomania, and the authorities of setting up a cult of personality around the man who has ruled Turkey either as president or prime minister since 2003.

A 16-year-old student is due to go on trial on Friday in the central Anatolian city of Konya in a case seen as the latest sign of a lurch to authoritarianism.

The teenager Mehmet Emin Altunses was arrested in December in the middle of lessons at school and  taken for interrogation by police for calling Erdogan the “chief of theft” during a student protest.

A court later ordered his release but he risks up to four years in prison if convicted. 

The case has further undermined the right of  freedom of speech in Turkey and a sharp increase in the number of lawsuits has tarnished the EU hopeful country’s image — already tainted with several journalists languishing behind bars and its blanket bans on social media.

Lawyer Benan Molu of the Istanbul Bar Association said since Erdogan’s election as president in August, at least 84 people have been charged with insulting him and for speaking their mind in public or on social media.

“I’ve been a human rights activist for more than 20 years now but I cannot remember a worse period for freedom of expression in Turkey,” said Sebla Arcan, the Istanbul head of Turkey’s Human Rights Association. 

Erdogan has enjoyed overwhelming electoral support since he came to power in 2003 but his reputation as a grassroots leader has eroded in recent years largely over his authoritarian style and zero-tolerance of criticism.