"Turk jailed for 22 years for desecrating Ataturk busts
04.11.2005 - 09:57 CET | By Mark Beunderman Just days before a key EU report on Turkey�s human rights record, an Ankara court has sentenced a Turkish man to 22 and a half years in prison for smearing oil paint on busts of Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey.
According to press reports, 30 year old Murat Vural this year on five occasions tipped paint on busts of Turkey�s founding father in an Ankara suburb.
Mr Vural was subsequently arrested and charged under a Turkish constitutional law protecting the late Mr Ataturk from insults and desecration.
The Ankara court sentenced Mr Vural to four and a half years for each of the five incidents, amounting to a total of 22 and a half years."
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