‘Insulting the President’: Lawyer Efkan Bolaç on trial again, this time over Instagram posts

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Lawyer Efkan Bolaç is facing a lawsuit for "insulting the President" over two cartoons that he shared on Instagram social network platform.

The related cartoons were those of Carlos Latuff, a cartoonist from Brazil. While one of the cartoons was about Berkin Elvan, who lost his life at the age of 15 after being hit by a tear gas capsule in the head by a police officer during Gezi in 2013, the other one was about the 301 miners who lost their lives in an occupational homicide in Manisa's Soma in 2014.

The cartoon about Berkin Elvan was, in fact, published by several media outlets, including pro-government daily Hürriyet.

He was the PM, not the President

The indictment against lawyer Efkan Bolaç does not indicate the dates when the related posts were shared. In fact, in 2014, when Bolaç posted the cartoons, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had not yet been elected the President and he was still the Prime Minister of Turkey.

The first hearing of the case will be held at the İstanbul 52nd Criminal Court of First Instance on September 6, 2022.

Justice Ministry has permitted the prosecution

Issued by Abdurrahman Hacısalıhoğlu, the indictment has been accepted by the İstanbul 52nd Criminal Court of First Instance. The indictment has said that "in the inquiries made by the security units on the Internet upon a tip-off, it was concluded that the posts shared by the suspect had elements of crime and the Public Prosecutor's Office launched an investigation."

Describing the related social media posts shared by lawyer Efkan Bolaç on Instagram, the indictment has referred to the cartoon with Soma miners, noting that it was caricaturing people, considered to be Soma miners, while battering the President and, in sharing the cartoon, Bolaç attached the note, "Hoping that these days will come, too..."

In reference to the cartoon with Berkin Elvan, the indictment has said that the image is considered to depict him while holding the President and a police officer by their collars and Bolaç wrote, "Berkin is the black-browed child of Gezi in history again. Berkin Elvan is 17 years old."

As per the Article 299 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK), the permission of the Justice Ministry is necessary for a prosecution for "publicly insulting the President". The Ministry, with its decision dated December 6, 2021, has given the necessary permission for prosecution.

One investigation after the other

The Justice Ministry did not give permission for an investigation against lawyer Efkan Bolaç over his tweets on charge of "degrading the Turkish Nation, State of the Republic of Turkey, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, the Government of the Republic of Turkey and the judicial bodies of the State" as per the Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK).

Upon a tip-off of the security units, the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office made an inquiry and launched an investigation against lawyer Bolaç over the following tweet that he posted on July 16, 2016, a day after the failed coup attempt in Turkey: "Nothing so bad but it might have been worse, we have seen this, too. The diktat enthusiasts who staged a coup against the diktat have turned the country into a fireground."

Prosecutors decided not to prosecute lawyer Efkan Bolaç for a social media post that included a drawing of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and late General Kenan Evren, who led the 1980 military coup.

Lawyer Bolaç was also given a decision of non-prosecution for "praising the crime and the criminal" over his tweet about Mahir Çayan, the late leader of the People's Liberation Party-Front of Turkey (THKP-C), a revolutionary group that was active in the early 1970s.

CLICK - BİA Media Monitoring 2021 Annual Report: 'Journalists' struggle for freedom, a glimmer of hope from the judiciary'

According to the latest BİA Media Monitoring Report, 70 journalists have been convicted of "insulting the President" in the last 7 years. (AS/SD)