A court in Turkey’s eastern city of Erzurum ordered Rusen Firat, a citizen of Kurdish descent, to share Turkish flags on her social media accounts on a daily basis for a month.
Firat was convicted of making terrorist propaganda in her social media posts in 2015 and 2016 and was put on a probation that involves visiting a police station three times a week.
“[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 wrote, Bia.net reported.
The posts that were deemed terrorist propaganda featured the flags of Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government and a flyer of Abdullah Ocalan, leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, PKK, at a rally organised by the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party, HDP.
“We went to Iraq and took pictures … We took pictures with Kurdish flags,” she said at her trial.
When the judge asked whether she had ever taken pictures of the Turkish flag, she answered: “I have never taken a picture with a Turkish flag.”
Following this answer, the judge ordered her to share Turkish flags on her Facebook, X and Instagram social media accounts every day for a month.
Firat’s sister, Halime Firat, told Bia.net that the Police also called her and warned that she must share Turkish flags, otherwise she will go to prison. After the warning, Firat started to share Turkish flags on her social media accounts, to avoid prison.
“This decision is arbitrary and not legal. We do not have any problems with the flag. We will appeal to the necessary authorities through our lawyers,” Halime Firat said.
Firat is reportedly a great-grandchild of Sheikh Said, a Kurdish leader who led a rebellion against the Turkish government in 1925.
The Diyarbakir Bar Association filed a criminal complaint against the judge who made the decision.
“Judges must be held accountable for their arbitrary practices that violate the law and exceed the limits of their duties. It is a requirement of the rule of law that judges be accountable,” the association said in a press release on Thursday.