Turkish lawyer held for ‘insulting the president’ with tweet

Turkish lawyer held for ‘insulting the president’ with tweet

ISTANBUL: A Turkish lawyer has been arrested and charged with "insulting the president" over a controversial tweet that included sexist remarks directed at ruling Justice and Development Party MP Ozlem Zengin. Police raided Mert Yasar's house on Tuesday 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. "An honorable woman, a woman with morals, wouldn't wait a year (before complaining). This is an imaginary narrative," Zengin said on Feb. 19. Amid public debate on the topic, Zengin said that women were falling pregnant on orders from various "illegal" groups seeking to trigger public anger over babies growing up in prisons. "These people are having babies upon directives so that they can assert 'there are pregnant women or women with babies in jails'," she said on Feb. 21. Yasar responded to this latest statement with a furious tweet, targeting the MP: "If the presidential cabinet is given the right of the first night, will Ozlem Zengin close