Turkish courtroom orders Umit Ozdag’s arrest over accusations of public incitement and anti-Syrian refugee riots after his detention on Monday.
A courtroom in Turkiye has ordered the Victory Get together chief Umit Ozdag to be held in custody pending trial on expenses of inciting public hatred via social media.
Ozdag was detained on Monday for allegedly insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over feedback during which he mentioned “even crusades had not achieved as a lot harm to Turkiye as Erdogan has”.
The get together mentioned Istanbul’s Chief Public Prosecutor’s workplace launched Ozdag from custody on expenses of insulting the president however subsequently ordered his arrest on expenses of “inciting hatred and hostility among the many public”.
Prosecutors introduced 11 of Ozdag’s posts on X as proof in opposition to him, the get together mentioned. The prosecutor’s workplace additionally held Ozdag accountable for riots in opposition to Syrian refugees final 12 months within the central Turkish province of Kayseri, throughout which a whole lot of properties and companies have been attacked.
In a publish on X, Ozdag mentioned arresting him means arresting the individuals he represents and people who are opposing the most recent developments within the nation.
“Employees who needed to survive on minimal wage, retirees dwelling under the starvation threshold have been arrested! … You’ll be able to arrest me, however you can’t silence me with out killing me!”
Ozdag, a 63-year-old former tutorial, is an outspoken critic of Turkiye’s refugee insurance policies and has known as for the repatriation of hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees.
Ozgur Ozel, the chief of the principle opposition Republican Folks’s Get together (CHP), protested in opposition to the arrest, saying the choice was a homicide of justice, a destruction of each democracy and judicial independence.
Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu additionally protested in opposition to Ozdag’s arrest and mentioned this quantities to an intervention of politics within the judiciary.
