Man sentenced to 10 months in prison for drying dog with Turkish flag
A court in Istanbul sentenced a man to 10 months in prison on Wednesday on charges of insulting the Turkish flag after he was found drying his dog with the flag.
Ulaş Ansın Akbaş was detained after security camera footage revealed he used the crescent-and-moon flag to dry the dog he washed at a pool in Istanbul's Bakırköy last year.
The prosecutor's office had asked for a prison sentence up to three years for "blatantly insulting the symbol of state sovereignty." The court initially sentenced him to one year but later commuted the sentence to 10 months on the grounds of good conduct during the proceedings.
Ulaş Ansın Akbaş was detained after security camera footage revealed he used the crescent-and-moon flag to dry the dog he washed at a pool in Istanbul's Bakırköy last year.
The prosecutor's office had asked for a prison sentence up to three years for "blatantly insulting the symbol of state sovereignty." The court initially sentenced him to one year but later commuted the sentence to 10 months on the grounds of good conduct during the proceedings.