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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — A 14-year-old Kurdish child was detained in Turkey on Thursday for allegedly insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a video on social media, his father told Rudaw English. The boy was released late Friday.
Serhat Tas was taken from his home by police on Thursday, according to his father Cebar. This comes after he published a video on TikTok with images of Erdogan, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, and former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein together, followed by photos of Kurdish legendary figures like singer Ahmed Kaya.
Cebar told Rudaw’s Hevidar Zana on Friday that police threatened his son during an interrogation. The child was also asked questions about whether his family was affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an armed group fighting for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey.
“These questions have nothing to do with him or the case. He was blackmailed and threatened that he could be sexually abused once he is out of jail,” Cebar told Rudaw, noting his son refused to apologize for the video while in custody.
He was released after being subjected to age and psychological tests, but will be tried in 15 days. Police told the father his son would have been tried at an earlier date if there was no coronavirus-related lockdown in the country. It is not clear whether he will be arrested again.
The PKK is considered a terrorist organization by Ankara and many Kurds who have been arrested in Turkey are accused of links with the group.
Turkish authorities have not commented on Serhat’s case.
Insulting the president is a crime in Turkey and is punishable by up to four years in jail. According to data published by Turkish justice ministry, reported by Duvar news outlet, investigations were launched against 128,872 people for insulting the president between 2014 and 2019, this included trials of 903 children.
Serhat Tas was taken from his home by police on Thursday, according to his father Cebar. This comes after he published a video on TikTok with images of Erdogan, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, and former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein together, followed by photos of Kurdish legendary figures like singer Ahmed Kaya.
Cebar told Rudaw’s Hevidar Zana on Friday that police threatened his son during an interrogation. The child was also asked questions about whether his family was affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an armed group fighting for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey.
“These questions have nothing to do with him or the case. He was blackmailed and threatened that he could be sexually abused once he is out of jail,” Cebar told Rudaw, noting his son refused to apologize for the video while in custody.
He was released after being subjected to age and psychological tests, but will be tried in 15 days. Police told the father his son would have been tried at an earlier date if there was no coronavirus-related lockdown in the country. It is not clear whether he will be arrested again.
The PKK is considered a terrorist organization by Ankara and many Kurds who have been arrested in Turkey are accused of links with the group.
Turkish authorities have not commented on Serhat’s case.
Insulting the president is a crime in Turkey and is punishable by up to four years in jail. According to data published by Turkish justice ministry, reported by Duvar news outlet, investigations were launched against 128,872 people for insulting the president between 2014 and 2019, this included trials of 903 children.
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