Collections of signatures, gatherings and death threats: o killing a cat by a man in Constantinople has caused a stir in a section of Turkish society, even pushing him President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to intervene in the case so that the Turkish Justice will reopen the court case.

On the night of January 1 in the hall of his building, Ibrahim K. kicked a stray cat that was regularly fed by the neighbors. Her name: Eros. The man’s violent action was recorded by closed circuit surveillance and published.

Ibrahim K. was sentenced in early February to a year and a half in prisonbut was immediately released for good behavior, angering animal rights activists and some of the public in a country where people usually care for stray cats by leaving kibbles and bowls of water on the street.

An online petition calling for a harsher sentence against the man garnered 320,000 signatures and, in late February, the justice minister announced a new trial, saying President Erdogan had contacted him by phone in the night, stressing that he was “personally” watching. the case.

Yesterday, Wednesday, in a tense atmosphere, hundreds of people crowded the corridors of the Istanbul court where Ibrahim K.

Judges increased the sentence by a year but did not issue an arrest warrant, which animal advocates and thousands of netizens who have been following the man, even wishing him dead, continue to demand.

A lawyer for an animal welfare group has announced that he will appeal the decision, seeking the maximum four-year prison sentence under the law.

Today, the hashtag #Dικαιοσύνη for Eros (#ErosicinAdalet) was among the most discussed topics on Turkish twiiter (now X) and the photo of the dead cat was on the front pages of several major newspapers, including Hürriyet, which has devoted several articles about Cupid and the “assassin Ibrahim”.

Many celebrities have also called for “justice for Cupid”, including Argentinian footballer Mauro Icardi, a star striker for Galatasaray.