Gökhan Güçlü is on trial in Turkey for participating in the failed coup against the Erdoğan regime last year. In July, Güçlü made authorities angry when he wore a T-shirt with the word “hero.” Now, Turkey has made it a crime to wear similar T-shirts.
At “least 35 people have been arrested for wearing “hero” t-shirts in the last month,” reports the Turkey Purge website.
Via Albawaba:
The latest was detained on Monday while drinking juice at cafe in Adana province, according to the website which was set up by exiled journalists to monitor post-coup rights abuses.
“There will be no more coming to courts wearing whatever they want,” Erdoğan said, according to the daily newspaper Hürriyet. “They will be introduced to the world like that.”
Erdoğan had previously called for defendants to be dressed in Guantanamo-style orange jumpsuits.
According to Turkey Purge, those arrested range from factory and hotel workers to university students. Many of those detained claimed that they had not been aware of the word’s meaning.
Some of them were reportedly arrested following tip-offs from members of the public.
#Turkish Ergonistan https://t.co/oMg8vAJhoa
— Secular Syria (@syria_true) August 7, 2017
Turkey continues to crack down on anyone wearing HERO t-shirts. pic.twitter.com/r7wx1vlZhi
— Mahir Zeynalov (@MahirZeynalov) August 7, 2017
One foreigner who was wearing this T-shirt was deported while Turks were thrown into prison. pic.twitter.com/8VOs8e8eq9
— Mahir Zeynalov (@MahirZeynalov) August 7, 2017
Turkey has now started arresting anyone wearing that T-shirt. In Erzurum, two university students were arrested in the campus for wearing it pic.twitter.com/rPmw2ZlLXL
— Mahir Zeynalov (@MahirZeynalov) July 19, 2017
Image:
Author Пресс-служба Президента Российской Федерации / Wikipedia