ISTANBUL, 25 February, 2021 (TON): Charged with insulting the President, a Turkish lawyer Mert Yasar has been arrested over a controversial tweet that included sexist remarks directed at the ruling Justice and Development Party MP Ozlem Zengin.

On Tuesday, the police raided Mert Yasar’s house and detained the lawyer after an investigation by the Istanbul chief public prosecutor’s office. 

Zengin sparked widespread anger recently with dismissive comments on alleged human rights violations and strip searches in Turkish prisons, ridiculing the claims of dozens of conservative women who said they had been subjected to intrusive searches in recent years.

Fahrettin Altun, presidential communications director, immediately issued a statement urging the “independent Turkish judiciary to punish this creature named Mert Yaşar in the severest way possible.”

“What will the opposition do in the face of this dishonor? They will, most probably, hide their heads in the sand. We will follow it up,” he said.

Yasar was arrested on charges of insulting the president according to Article 299 of the Turkish penal code that stipulates that the person who insults the president shall be punished by imprisonment from one to four years, and if the crime is committed publicly, the punishment will be increased by one to six years.

However, critics say it leads to the disproportionate use of this clause since his tweet targeted an MP, not the president himself.