A total of 1,080 people were convicted of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in 2016, according to data from Turkey’s Justice Ministry, the Cumhuriyet daily reported on Wednesday.
Data from the Justice Ministry showed that 4,936 cases were launched against people on charges of insult in 2016.
The report indicated that 4,750 people over the age of 18, 36 foreign nationals and two legal entities were accused of insult, leading to the conviction of 1,080 people on insult charges, of whom 867 received suspended sentences. A total of 679 people were acquitted.
According to the report, 102 children between the ages of 12-15 and 138 minors between the ages 15-18 were accused of committing crimes against the sovereignty of the state and the prestige of its bodies.
Data from the ministry also showed that 3,857 legal actions were taken and 95 people were imprisoned on charges of spying or exposing government secrets in 2016. Of 990 people who were accused of espionage, 139 were foreign nationals and 34 were between 12-18 years of age.