A court in Erzurum, Turkey, ordered a woman of ethnic Kurdish descent to share pictures of the Turkish flag daily on her social media profiles for a month, according to local Turkish news.
The woman, Rusen Firat, was convicted in 2015 and 2016 for making social media posts that Turkish authorities deemed to be terrorist propaganda, according to Balkan Insight.
“[It was decided that] the suspect should share the Turkish flag on her social media accounts every day during the probation period, and if she did not share it, the arrest process would be reviewed again because she violated it during the probation period,” the court ruling stated, local newspaper Bia.net reported. (RELATED: Leader Of NATO Country Praises Hamas As A ‘Liberation Group,’ Cancels Trip To Israel)
The defendant’s sister, Halime, told Bia.net local police have also called Rusen to warn her should she not share Turkish flags on her social media, as instructed by the judge, she would be imprisoned.
Since the court order, Rusen has been posting Turkish flags on her profiles, according to Bia.net.
Sanal medya hesaplarından Türk bayrağı paylaşma cezası verilen Ruşen Fırat, ailesiyle birlikte psikolojik baskı altında olduklarını ve tehdit mesajları aldıklarını belirterek, “Bu ceza Şêx Sait’in torunu ve Kürt olmamdan bağımsız düşünülemez” dedihttps://t.co/QCG0g1Arqz pic.twitter.com/GNa91JMyyx
— Mezopotamya Ajansı (@MAturkce) December 28, 2023
Rusen was convicted over photographs she took which contained flags of Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government and a leaflet of Abdullah Ocalan, the head of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, PKK — an organization banned by the Turkish government, according to Balkan Insight.
Turkey has a history of conflict with its Kurdish minorities, including Kurdish separatists. Rusen is believed to be the great-grandchild of Sheikh Said, the leader of a 1925 Kurdish rebellion against Turkish authorities, Balkan Insight reported.
The judge imposed the sentence after asking Rusen if she had ever taken pictures with the Turkish flag, to which she replied, “I have never taken a picture with a Turkish flag,” Balkan Insight reported.
“Judges must be held accountable for their arbitrary practices that violate the law and exceed the limits of their duties,” the Diyarbakir Bar Association, which levied a criminal complaint at the judge, wrote in a Thursday press release, according to Balkan Insight.
“It is a requirement of the rule of law that judges be accountable,” the association added, the outlet reported.