Turkish teen gets suspended sentence for insulting Erdogan

A court in Turkey has handed down a suspended sentence to a teenager for insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in yet another apparent attempt by the Ankara government to hush dissidents.

A juvenile court convicted the boy, said to be a 16-year-old high school student, to more than 11 months in jail for calling Erdogan a thief during a student rally last December.

The sentence was immediately suspended, meaning that the teenager, identified as M.E.A. due to Turkish laws protecting minors, would serve the jail term if he offends the president again in the next three years.

The convict is one of the youngest along with dozens of other people who are facing prosecution under a law that bans insulting the president. The law has also led to the arrest and prosecution of some Turkish celebrities and journalists.

Rights groups and free speech advocates have criticized the government for suing people under the law, describing it as a means of aggressive muzzling of dissents in Turkey.

Erdogan, a former premier who ascended to presidency last year, has faced growing popular dissatisfaction over what critics say is his growing autocratic manner.

Many have also been jailed in Turkey over a scandal involving the exposure of corruption in Erdogan’s inner circle on the Internet.

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