Istanbul: According to media reports, Turkish authorities detained and imprisoned a 16-year-old boy on Tuesday for drawing a moustache on an election campaign poster depicting the country's newly reelected president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The young man from the southeasterly town of Mersin was allegedly charged with defacing the poster near his home with a pen and writing "a Hitler moustache and writing insulting comments," according to several media outlets supportive of the opposition, including daily newspapers BirGun and Cumhuriyet and private TV station Halk TV.
According to media reports, he was apprehended after being recognised by CCTV cameras. He reportedly "admitted drawing the moustache" while denying writing the accompanying comments during an interview with authorities that took place at his home.
Also Read: Quebec issues new evacuation orders as dozens of wildfires in Canada continue to burn out of control
According to Halk TV, after being brought before the public prosecutor, he was found to have "insulted the president" and was imprisoned at a nearby youth facility.
Also Read: Unions' last-ditch efforts to oppose raising the retirement age are met with protests in France
Erdogan won the presidential election's second round on May 28 and began a new five-year term, extending his 20-year reign over Turkiye.
Also Read: Donald Trump's opponent Mike Pence will begin his presidential campaign in Iowa
According to the justice ministry, "insulting the president" is one of Turkiye's most frequent crimes, with 16,753 convictions recorded in the previous year.