Taraf Newspaper to Take Defamation Verdict to ECHR

An Ankara court found Taraf newspaper columnist Ahmet Altan guilty for insulting PM Erdogan, ordering Altan to pay roughly 8,000 euros for non-pecuniary damages, a verdict that Taraf newspaper announced to take to ECHR.

Ahmet Altan, former editor-in-chief of Taraf newspaper, published an editorial in March that criticized PM Erdogan. An Ankara court found Taraf newspaper columnist Ahmet Altan guilty for insulting PM Erdogan, ordering Altan to pay roughly 8,000 euros for non-pecuniary damages, a verdict that Taraf newspaper announced to take to ECHR.

In the session, Erdogan's attorneys complained that Altan's article aimed to violate Erdogan's personal rights with the intention to "humiliate and degradation". Attorneys demanded the acceptance of their case claiming that the news article extended the limits of expression freedom.

Altan's attorney Lale Şimşek defended her client saying that Altan's article had no intention to humiliate Erdogan's personal rights but aimed to criticize his deeds as prime minister. "There were times that my client also wrote articles favoring PM's actions. We think that such public figures should be more tolerant in terms of criticism. We are demanding the dismissal of the case."

Court judge Adem Albayrak partially accepted the plaintiff's claims, ordering Altan to pay roughly 8,000 euros for non-pecuniary damages for his article entitled "State complicity and ethics." (EA)

* This article has been compiled from Taraf newspaper.