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Turkish prosecutors are demanding jail time for an opposition mayor about in the western province of Izmir on charges of insulting the president through social media posts, the BirGün newspaper reported.

The prosecutor's office demanded up to 8 years and 2 months in prison for the mayor from the People's Republican Party (PRP) of Gaziemir for social media posts dating back to 2013, the newspaper reported.

He is accused of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan through social media accounts during nationwide protests against the government in Gezi Park in 2013. In 2020, the Izmir Prosecutor General's Office opened an investigation into the posts in question.

According to Article 299 of the Turkish Penal Code, insulting the president is a crime and carries a maximum penalty of four years in prison.

Investigations and convictions under Article 299 have increased dramatically since Erdoğan became president in 2014. Prosecutions for insulting the president have increased by 9,000 percent since 2010, according to a 2021 report based on data from the Justice Department.

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