Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy provincial chairman of Batman province Hüseyin Yaşar has been handed down a suspended prison sentence of 11 months, 20 days on charges of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Birgün daily reported on Friday.
Yaşar, who criticized the verdict and denied the allegations, said: “My criticisms were counted as an insult. I did not insult him [Erdoğan]. Punishment will not prevent us from fighting. My sentence has been suspended, but we will continue saying what we know to be true.”
According to the report, Yaşar was accused of insulting Erdoğan in a speech made during the opening of a local branch of his party before the Turkish general elections of June 2015.
Scores of people in Turkey have been detained or arrested or are under investigation on allegations of insulting Erdoğan.
As of the end of 2016, at least 10,000 people were under investigation on suspicion of terrorist propaganda and insulting senior state officials on social media.