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A court has imposed an access block to a news report on Odatv website about a religious cult leader's abuse of a child on the grounds of "violation of privacy."
Fatih Nurullah (58), the leader of the Uşşaki cult, was remanded in custody on Wednesday (September 2) for abusing the 12-year-old child of one of the cult's followers.
Following Nurullah's arrest, Odatv published voice records of talks between him and the child's father.
A penal judgeship of peace yesterday (September 3) blocked access to the report, as well as "all future reports on the same issue," Odatv stated, citing the court order.
"What is the same issue? Is it child abuse news? Is it Sheikh Fatih Nurullah's scandals? Or all of them? How could a court say, 'I ban news reports that are not made yet'?" Odatv questioned.
The access block came after the Public Prosecutor's Office in Akyazı district of Sakarya province, where Nurullah was detained, opened an investigation for violation of privacy.
"As a result, the Turkish judiciary banned a news report that revealed the perversion of the sheikh of a cult," Odatv said.
Blocking a non-existent link
There was also a technical mistake in the block order as the link that was ordered to be blocked didn't exist, Odatv said, citing Access Providers Association (ESB) officials. To prevent the website from being entirely blocked, it removed the report from the website, it added.
Access to the entire Odatv.com site was previously blocked multiple times over a news report about the funeral of an intelligence officer who died in Libya. The site is currently online at Odatv4.com.
Two of the three reports that Odatv published about the incident are still accessible.
In the first voice recording of talk between the cult leader and the child's father, F.A., the cult leader tells him what he did to his child and tries to convince him to cover up the incident.
In the second recording, the cult leader suggests F.A. kill him and make it look like a suicide.
The Directorate of Religious Affairs also released a statement on the incident yesterday, warning the people against "those who exploit to religion for their own interests" and urging everyone to take responsibility for protecting children from abuse.
About Nurullah and Uşşaki cult
In a video that recently went viral on social media, Fatih Nurullah is seen urging his followers to "infiltrate the control mechanisms of the state."
While Nurullah is known as the leader of the Uşşaki group, a Sufi cult, the Uşşaki Foundation denied its relationship with Nurullah.
The foundation dates itself back to the 16th century and says it is following the teachings of Seyyid Hüsameddin Uşşaki.
However, after the death of the cult's sheikh, İbrahim İpek Çorumi, in 2000, Nurullah is said to have taken the control of the group, moving the cult's center from Çorum to Sakarya. Under Nurullah, the group preserved its influence and continued to have thousands of followers.
Uşşaki cult is a branch of the Halveti cult, which is based in Kasımpaşa, İstanbul. (HA/VK)
