Poet's Criticism of Prime Minister 'Free of Charge'
The Ankara 15th Civil Court of First Instance rejected the TL 20,000 (€ 10,000) compensation claim filed by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) against Turkish poet and author Ataol Behramoğlu.
The writer was prosecuted over his utterances made as a guest of the program "Neural Zone" ('Tarafsız Bölge') broadcasted on the Turkish news channel CNN Türk on 12 January 2010.
He said, "I do not say that AKP will not hold the elections. Yet, I say that they did everything, visible and invisible, to prevent elections by illegal and anti-democratic means. That is what I think".
In a statement made to bianet, the poet's lawyer Elif Tığlı reported that the court decided to evaluate Behramoğlu's statement within the scope of freedom of thought and thus decreed to drop procedures. (TD/ŞA/VK)