Former Ruling Party Council Member in Turkey Sentenced for Insulting Atatürk

The trial against Hasan Uzunlar, a member of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and former deputy chairman of the council in Samsun, has concluded over charges of insulting Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder and first president of the Republic of Turkey.

The court sentenced Uzunlar to 10 months in prison for sharing posts on social media that were deemed offensive towards Atatürk. However, the implementation of the sentence has been postponed.

According to reports from Ermenihaber, Uzunlar made these posts during his tenure in office. Following some complaints, the AKP dismissed him and subjected him to disciplinary measures.

In court, Uzunlar claimed that he merely shared someone else's post and that he was not the author of the content, which he argued was widely circulated online. However, the court did not accept his defense, reasoning that sharing someone else's post online is equivalent to writing it yourself.

The postponement of the sentence is contingent on whether Uzunlar is convicted of any crime within the next five years.