Administrative and judicial investigations have been launched into 53 people from 20 provinces across Turkey for allegedly insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on social media since the Isparta Governor’s Office sent a notification to all state institutions and organizations in the province, instructing their staff to urgently report all incidents in which Erdoğan or other senior government officials are “insulted” on social media to the police.

The notification signed by Isparta Deputy Governor Fevzi Güneş on behalf of Isparta Governor Vahdettin Özkan asked state staff to report insult incidents to the police so that administrative and legal action can be taken against the perpetrators.

Upon receiving the notification on Monday, police officers from the Isparta Police Department’s Cyber Crime Unit started to scan through social media posts in order to find those that insulted President Erdoğan or other senior government officials.

As a result judicial and administrative investigations were launched into 53 people in 20 provinces, including Afyonkarahisar, Ankara, Antalya, Balıkesir, Çanakkale, İstanbul, İzmir, Kocaeli, Kütahya, Manisa and Van, on suspicion of “insulting the president,” “defaming the government of the Turkish Republic or the institutions of the state,” “inciting people to enmity or hatred or denigration” and “insulting a public officer regarding the performance of his duties.”

The Ankara 32nd Criminal Court of First Instance also sentenced Hüseyin Aygün, former Tunceli deputy for the main opposition Republican People’s Party’s (CHP), to imprisonment of one year, two months on Monday for allegedly insulting Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu.

The National Police Department on Jan. 6 sent a circular to the police departments of all 81 provinces across Turkey about “insult crimes” against senior state officials, particularly Erdoğan. The circular advised the police departments to take immediate action against individuals who engage in “any insult crime” against Erdoğan and other senior state officials.

Article 299 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) states that anyone convicted of insulting the president will serve a jail term of between one and four years. Article 125 of the TCK states that any person who acts with the intention to harm the honor, reputation or dignity of another person through concrete performance or giving impression of intent can be sentenced to a period of between three months and two years in prison or be given a fine.