What’s happened to Turkey? Seems to have gone from a model democracy to a cruel totalitarian dictatorship in just a few years. Here’s the story:
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey's state-run news agency says prosecutors are seeking more than four years in prison for NBA player Enes Kanter on charges of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Anadolu Agency says an indictment prepared by the Istanbul chief prosecutor's office accuses the New York Knicks player of insulting the president in a series of tweets he posted in May and June 2016.
Kanter, who is in the United States, would be tried in absentia.
This is pretty ridiculous in so many ways. First, “insulting the president" is a crime? Second, this is a basketball player, not a true political figure. Third, this is important enough to have a trial in absentia?
Hardly a model of the right to free speech.
Erdogan really has gone off the rails. (Oops, I hope I don’t get jail time for saying that.)
Is there any organization like the ACLU in Turkey, or have they all been imprisoned?