It is the latest case in
which youngsters have been hauled before the courts in Turkey on similar
charges, as activist express growing alarm over the limits on freedom of
expression under Erdogan.
The Turkish court on Monday
remanded in custody a 17-year-old construction worker on charges of
"insulting" Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Facebook, media
reports said.
The boy, identified as
F.E., was detained at his home in western Tekirdag province after someone
called the police emergency line to complain about his Facebook posts, Dogan
news agency said.
The court in Tekirdag
placed him in pre-trial detention, Dogan said. No other details were given on
the content of the posts.
Critics say Erdogan has
become increasingly authoritarian since becoming president in August 2014 after
more than a decade as prime minister and the number of prosecutions for
insulting him have risen.
Students, journalists and
even a former Miss Turkey beauty queen have been targeted.
Last December, a
17-year-old was arrested in his classroom and held for several days on the same
charge and given an 11-month suspended sentence.
In November, two of
Turkey's most prominent journalists -- Cumhuriyet newspaper's editor-in-chief
Can Dundar and its Ankara bureau chief Erdem Gul -- were arrested on spying
charges in a case that has caused global concern.
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