Columnist Ayşen Şahin released from detention

* Photo: Evrensel newspaper

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Detained by the police during an online meeting of the March 8 Women's Platform, Ayşen Şahin, a columnist for Evrensel, has been released after giving her statement at the İstanbul Security Directorate.

While her social media messages were cited as the reason for her detention, Şahin was charged with "provoking the public to hatred and hostility" as per the Article 216 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK).

Speaking after her release, Şahin has said, "I am not the one who targets people, I am the one who is targeted. It has turned into a duty for the homeland; we fulfill it when our turn comes. I am out now, but what crime did the young friends commit? Freedom for not me, but for everyone."

Pro-government columnist targeted Şahin

As reported by Evrensel, among the social media posts cited as possible criminal evidence against Şahin was the one targeted by Hilal Kaplan, a columnist for the pro-government Sabah newspaper.

During the protest against the appointed rector of Boğaziçi University in İstanbul's Kadıköy district on February 2, Şahin posted a video of a shopkeeper who told the police where the protesters headed.

"Those who even find it targeting to say 'Homosexuality is deviance' are now turning a person and his shop into a target for a mass, among whom are also terrorists," tweeted Hilal Kaplan.

After she was attacked by trolls on social media, Ayşen Şahin protected her tweets by locking her Twitter account. (TP/SD)