A one-armed man who became a symbol of opposition to escalating repression in Turkey as he protested to get his job back has said a government investigation has been opened against him.

Veli Saçılık, a sociologist fired by decree in November as the government moved against academics, civil servants and teachers, said he had been accused of membership of a terrorist organisation and conducting propaganda on its behalf.

The image of Saçılık’s confrontation with riot police has become a symbol for Turks who are increasingly angered by their government’s crackdown on dissent.

“They are very strong, but we are very right,” Saçılık told the Guardian. “Bravery is contagious, and they fear our bravery will lead to something bigger.”

Turkey’s descent into authoritarianism has accelerated after the attempted coup last July, in which 290 people were killed and 1,400 wounded. The Turkish government has since dismissed or detained alleged followers of Fethullah Gülen, an exiled US-based preacher it blames for the coup attempt, and dissidents of all persuasions in the media, academia and civil service. The president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, narrowly won a referendum in April that vastly expanded his powers

Saçılık lost his arm in 2000, three years after being arrested in a workers’ union demonstration, when the government cracked down on hunger strikers in prisons around the country. His arm was severed and he came round handcuffed to a hospital bed. The lost limb was later was found in bin outside the jail.

“I was not an armed terrorist, but even if I were, that’s not what I deserve,” he said. “I don’t usually cry, but I cried then, out of anger rather than sadness.”

Saçılık has been detained 17 times for taking part in demonstrations. He was at a rally in late 2015 calling for peace in the country’s Kurdish regions that was hit by a double suicide bombing that killed nearly 100 people, Turkey’s worst terror attack.

Saçılık went on to participate in protests that accused the government of stealing votes in the referendum, and is now demanding his job back. Two fellow protesters, Nuriye Gülmen and Semih Özakça, were detained after going on a prolonged hunger strike over their own dismissals from teaching jobs amid fears small demonstrations could inspire more extensive protest.

“I’m a one-armed person, and there’s a teacher with a pacemaker, but our argument is strong and these people are obviously normal and innocent when the government tries to portray us as terrorists,” he said. “We are right, our argument is right, and they know that. Whenever we try to demand our rights, it ends in detentions, beatings, torture or death.

“But I’m hopeful, that’s why I’m protesting,” he added.