A Turkish textile worker was arrested and jailed on Saturday after throwing a phone at a stage where President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was waiting to start his speech and displaying protest banners, at a hospital opening in İstanbul, the Stockholm Center for Freedom reported, citing the TR724 news website.
N.K., 44, a father of three, shouted slogans and held banners reading “AK Party [Justice and Development Party] is the cause, inflation is the result” and tossed his phone toward the stage on Saturday during the opening ceremony of the Bağcılar Women’s and Children’s Hospital in İstanbul. He was immediately detained and arrested the same day after appearing in court.
He was charged with “insulting the president” and “attempted assault.”
According to officials, N.K. told police he aimed to draw attention to Turkey’s economic crisis and had no intention of harming the president.
“I threw my phone not to harm him, but so he would see and hear me,” he said in his statement.
He described himself as facing serious financial hardship and said he saw no other way to make his voice heard.
N.K. had previously staged similar protests outside the AK Party’s İstanbul headquarters. In his statement he said he joined the event to protest what he viewed as government mismanagement of the economy and widening financial inequality.
His lawyer argued that the actions did not amount to a criminal offense and urged the court to release him, citing his fixed residence and lack of flight risk. However, the court ruled for his arrest.
Expressions of dissent against Erdoğan and the ruling AK Party have increasingly resulted in legal consequences, particularly through charges under Article 299 of the Turkish Penal Code, which criminalizes insults against the president.
The law, punishable by up to four years in prison, has drawn criticism from rights groups who say it is being used to suppress free speech and political opposition. Thousands of people in Turkey have been investigated, prosecuted or convicted under the controversial law, attracting criticism from rights groups who say it is used to stifle political opposition and free speech.