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The final hearing of former Managing Editor of Evrensel newspaper Çağrı Sarı, against whom a lawsuit was filed on charge of "insult and libel" for reporting on Paradise Papers, was held at the Bakırköy 2nd Penal Court of First Instance yesterday (March 19).
Announcing her verdict, Presiding Judge Gül Sema Çevik ruled that Çağrı Sarı shall be acquitted of the offense charged "on the ground that the elements of the crime did not arise."
Posting a message on Twitter after the verdict was announced, Sarı said, "Ah, I have just been acquitted against Berat Albayrak and Serhat Albayrak."
'We hope that it will prevent harassment of media'
Making a statement regarding the acquittal of Çağrı Sarı, Reporters Without Borders' (RSF) Representative to Turkey Erol Önderoğlu said,
"We are pleased that journalist Çağrı Sarı has been acquitted in the case related to her news on Paradise Papers documents. We hope that with a justified ruling that would relieve investigative journalism, it will contribute to the prevention of harassments directed to media."
What happened?A total of 13 million 400 thousand documents regarding offshore accounts of over 120 businesspeople from 50 countries were examined and published by media organizations across the world, including Turkey. In these documents which came to known as Paradise Papers, the names of the then Minister of Energy and Natural Resources and current Minister of Treasıry and Finance Berat Albayrak and his brother Serhat Albayrak were mentioned. The same documents also put forward that two sons of Binali Yıldırım, the Prime Minister of the time, also had an offshore company in Malta. Paradise Papers were reported by several news outlets in Turkey, including Evrensel. On November 8 and 9, 2017, Evrensel newspaper published two articles entitled "Albayrak and His Brother Come up in Paradise Papers As Well" and "Paradise Papers: Paradise for Them, Inferno for the People." Around the time when these two articles were published on Evrensel, Berat and Serhat Albayrak brothers filed a lawsuit of insult and libel against the then Managing Editor of the newspaper Çağrı Sarı. She faced up to six years in prison on the offense charged. Having her sixth hearing on March 19, 2019, Çağrı Sarı was acquitted. |
(HA/SD)
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