Ex Beauty Queen Sentenced to Jail for Insulting President on Instagram

A former Miss Turkey, 27-year-old Merve Buyuksarac, was on Tuesday sentenced by a court in Instabul to 14 months in jail for insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan through social media postings.



The sentence was however suspended on condition that she does not reoffend within the next five years.

Buyuksarac, who was crowned Miss Turkey in 2006, was briefly detained last year for sharing a satirical poem on her Instagram account in 2014. The posting, an satirical adaptation of the Turkish national anthem, was shared thousands of times on social media, and it was considered by prosecutors to be insulting to Mr Erdogan, who was then prime minister. Buyuksarac, however, denied insulting him.