Turkey jails woman for 'obscene hand gesture at Erdogan'

A Turkish court today sentenced a woman to almost a year in jail for making an obscene hand gesture at President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in an anti-government protest in 2014, reports said yesterday.
Filiz Akinci was convicted of making an offensive hand gesture at Erdogan -- then prime minister -- while his bus was passing on his way to a rally for local elections in the western city of Izmir in March 2014.
In the sixth hearing of the trial today, the court in Izmir sentenced Akinci, an economist and a mother-of-two, to 11 months and 20 days in jail, Dogan news agency reported.

The court had originally sentenced her to six months in jail, but doubled it because the "victim" was a public official, Dogan added.
Akinci's sentence was eventually reduced by ten days due to her "good behaviour" during the trial. She was also ordered to pay USD 590 in legal costs to Erdogan's lawyer Sema Cansu Bozkurt Sutcu.
"I am not guilty. I didn't commit any crime," Akinci told the court, breaking down into tears when the verdict was read out.