CHP İstanbul head faces up to 10 years in prison over tweets about Erdoğan aide's house

Photo: Evrim Kepenek / bianet

Click to read the article in Turkish

A court has accepted an indictment against Canan Kaftancıoğlu, the İstanbul head of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), for "inciting a crime" and "praising a crime and a criminal."

The case concerns her social media posts that contain photos of the house of Presidency Communications Director Fahrettin Altun.

The İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM), which is also led by the CHP, demolished some unlicensed small structures that Altun got built on a land with a view of the Bosphorus Strait in İstanbul's Üsküdar district.

Altun then filed a complaint against the journalists who reported the demolition as well as Kaftancıoğlu, who tweeted about the incident.

CLICK - Kaftancıoğlu to be reinvestigated for 'violating privacy of Erdoğan's communications director'

The İstanbul 13th Penal Court of First Instance accepted the indictment against Kaftancıoğlu today (January 5) and stated that the first hearing will be held on May 21.

The indictment prepared by the İstanbul Anadolu Chief Public Prosecutor's Office alleges that Suat Özçağdaş, the CHP's Üsküdar district head, and other two CHP members, took the photos of Altun's house upon Kaftancıoğlu's instruction on April 21 and then sent the photos to her.

Noting that Kaftancıoğlu then shared the photos on Twitter, the prosecutors demanded her receive a prison sentence of 9 months to 10 years and 6 months.

Kaftancıoğlu has long been targeted over her social media posts by the government and was sentenced to nearly 10 years in prison for "degrading the Republic of Turkey," "insulting a public official due to their duty," "insulting the president," "inciting the public into enmity and hatred," and "propagandizing for a terrorist organization" in June. (EMK/VK)