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Former Miss Turkey Guilty Of Insulting President

Former Miss Turkey Guilty Of Insulting President

A former Miss Turkey has been convicted of insulting the country's president, prompting free speech advocates to raise concerns about the erosion of rights.

The court found 27-year-old model Merve Buyuksarac guilty of insulting a public official by sharing a satirical poem on her Instagram account.

While the poem did not mention President Recep Tayyip Erdogan by name, it alluded to a corruption scandal that allegedly involved his family.

Ms Buyuksarac, who was crowned Miss Turkey in 2006, was handed a 14-month suspended sentence on the condition she does not reoffend within five years.

She denies the poem insulted the president and intends to appeal against the decision in the European Court of Justice.

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Her lawyer Emre Telci said: "Merve was prosecuted for sharing a posting that did not belong to her. My client has been convicted for words that do not belong to her."

Since becoming president in 2014, Mr Erdogan has filed close to 2,000 defamation cases under a previously seldom-used law that prohibits insulting a public official.

The move has caused alarm that the country is moving towards an increasingly authoritarian form of government.

But Mr Erdogan rejects that, pointing to what he says is a large number of articles that have attacked him and his family.

Turkish prosecutors are continuing to pursue a case against German comedian Jan Boehmermann, who mocked Mr Erdogan on German television.

Under an obscure German law, it is a criminal offence to insult a foreign head of state. But the law requires both a complaint from the offended party and permission from the government.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel last month gave permission for Turkey to pursue the case.

Boehmermann has accused Ms Merkel of "filleting" him and serving him for tea .