Court refuses to release journalist Sedef Kabaş

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A court has rejected journalist Sedef Kabaş's request for her release. Facing up to 12 years in prison for "insulting the president" and "insulting a public official because of their duty," Kabaş was remanded in custody on January 22.

Reviewing the application of Kabaş's attorney, Uğur Poyraz, the İstanbul 36th Penal Court of First Instance ruled today (February 15) that Kabaş's arrest should continue and the first hearing of the case should take place on March 11.

Kabaş was arrested because of her remarks during a live TV program on January 14. The indictment against the journalist was accepted late yesterday.

The indictment was prepared by the Press Crimes Bureau of the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.

Türkşad Kunthan Uçuk, the prosecutor of the case, graduated from university in 2018 and was appointed as a prosecutor four months ago.

The indictment refers to President and Justice and Development PArty (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as the "plaintiff" and Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu and Minister of Transport Adil Karaismailoğlu as "aggrieved."

The indictment also cites seven irrelevant ECtHR verdicts while ignoring the European court's three verdicts about "insulting the president."

While Kabaş faces 1 year, 5 months to 8 years, 2 months in prison for successively "insulting the President", she faces a total of 2 years, 4 months to 4 years, 8 months for "insulting public officials".

With the indictment accepted by the court, Kabaş will face up to 12 years, 10 months in prison on the offenses charged.

While the court has not yet set the date of the first hearing, the request of Kabaş's lawyer Uğur Poyraz for her release is still pending.

What happened?

Journalist Sedef Kabaş was arrested on January 22 for "insulting the President" because of her words during a live broadcast a week ago.

"There is a famous saying, 'A crowned head will get wiser.' But we see that this isn't the reality. There is also a saying that is the exact opposite: 'When cattle go into a palace, they don't become the king; the palace becomes a barn'," Kabaş said during a program on TELE1 TV on January 14.

A week later, she posted the second quote on her Twitter and Instagram accounts as a "Circassian proverb," replacing the word "cattle" with "ox."

Shortly after, at around 2 a.m. on Saturday, she was detained during a police raid. Hours later, a penal judgeship of peace remanded her in custody. (HA/VK)