Enes Kanter May Face Four Years In Turkish Prison For Critical Tweets

Enes Kanter hasn’t been afraid to voice his discontent towards the Turkish government. Kanter has used his platform to criticize Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, calling him the “Hitler of our country” on Twitter. It has led to a myriad of controversy, with Kanter receiving death threats and being the subject of an arrest warrant back home, which among other things claimed Kanter praised a “terrorist organization” when voiced his support of cleric Fethullah Gulen on Twitter. Gulen is accused of leading a coup against Erdogan’s government.

On Wednesday, we learned that Kanter is facing four years in prison. The Associated Press in Turkey reports that Kanter, who was detained in Romania earlier this year due to his Turkish passport getting canceled by the government, would be tried in absentia.

Via ESPN:

Turkey’s state-run news agency says prosecutors are seeking more than four years in prison for NBA player Enes Kanter on charges of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Anadolu Agency says an indictment prepared by the Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office accuses the New York Knicks player of insulting the president in a series of tweets he posted in May and June 2016.

Kanter appeared to respond to these potential charges by tweeting out a video he did with Vice News regarding his criticism of Erdogan, complete with the caption “Stand For What You Believe!”