Journalist Gökhan Biçici acquitted of 'insulting the President'
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Journalist Gökhan Biçici, the Editor-in-Chief of dokuz8HABER news website, had his final hearing in the trial where he was facing the charge of "insulting the President" over the news report "Hacker group Anonymous reacts against Erdoğan with Berkin Elvan example."
Put on trial over this news report dated June 1, 2020, Biçici and his lawyer Ceren Kalı attended the final hearing at the İstanbul 8th Criminal Court of First Instance in Çağlayan. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Representative to Turkey Erol Önderoğlu and Erselan Aktan from the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) also followed the hearing.
Lawyer Kalı made a statement as to the expert report requested at the previous hearing and set out to find out whether the tweet cited in the news report and the content of the news was the same.
The prosecutor of the hearing also said that the tweet posted by Anonymous was covered in line with the original tweet, noting that "journalism was done in reported speech." The prosecutor demanded acquittal as the act "did not constitute the elements of the crime of insulting the President" and "the elements of the offense charged against the defendant did not arise."
Taking the floor again, Biçici's lawyer Ceren Kalı stated that the news report of her client falls within freedom of press.
Referring to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruling dated October 19, 2021 that they had presented to the court board at the previous hearing, Kalı recalled that the related ruling was a ruling of rights violation regarding the Article 299 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) and says that "aiming to protect a head of state with a special penal code is against the spirit of the European Convention on Human Rights."
"Our client acting with the intention of news reporting is innocent. We demand his acquittal," concluded the lawyer.
Handing down its ruling without having a recess, the court board concluded that the journalist did not act with a criminal intent and ruled that Gökhan Biçici should be acquitted of "insulting the President."
'All journalists must be released'
Speaking after the hearing, journalist Gökhan Biçici welcomed the ruling, adding that it was a bittersweet joy: "We want all colleagues to be acquitted, we want all colleagues to be released and we want all obstacles standing in the way of journalistic activities to be removed."
Making a statement after the hearing, lawyer Ceren Kalı referred to the ECtHR ruling on 'insulting the President' cases and said, "While the ruling is somewhat hope-inspiring, I think there is still a long way to go, considering that thousands of people are still on trial."
What happened?
President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan defined and criticized the killing of George Floyd by the police in the US as a "racist attack". In response to this, Anonymous hacker group cited the killing of Berkin Elvan by the police during the Gezi Resistance in 2013 as an example. dokuz8HABER reported on the related tweet of Anonymous, which mentioned Erdoğan's tweet. (HA/SD)
