Journalist Sentenced for Insulting President

Writer and journalist Abdurrahman Dilipak has been sentenced to 1.5 year in prison for insulting the president in article titled Is Sezer Sick? published in the Anadoluda Vakit newspaper. Court converts sentence to 5,700 euro.

Erol Önderoğlu

Writer and journalist Abdurrahman Dilipak was sentenced to 1.5 years imprisonment for a commentary published in the "Anadolu'da Vakit" newspaper, found guilty on charges of insulting the president under penal code article 299.

Dilipaks sentence for his article titled Is Sezer Sick? was first reduced to 11 months 20 days by the Bagcilar 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance before being converted to a monetary fine of 10,600 YTL (5,700 euro).

He said he would appeal the verdict.

In a separate case at the court, Dilipak was acquitted on similar charges for another article titled "May Sezer Burn Henna with the court concluding that conditions of an offence had not been realized.

The journalists Is Sezer Sick? article referred to news that the President was ill and criticized him for leading an isolated life at the presidential palace in Cankaya, implying that he was under stress and coming to the point of not being able to run the country. It looks like Sezer will not be able to stay there until the end of his term, Dilipak said.

The case against the journalist was launched after a commentary by Hakki Devrim in the daily Radikal newspaper on July 15, 2005, calling on prosecutors to do their duty was accepted as a criminal complaint. (EO/II

Origin

BİA Haber Merkezi

Erol Önderoğlu

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A graduate of the French Language and Literature Department at İstanbul University. He has served as the Turkey representative for the international organization Reporters Without...

A graduate of the French Language and Literature Department at İstanbul University. He has served as the Turkey representative for the international organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF), where he began as a reporter in 1996. Since 1999, he has worked at bianet, a project of the IPS Communication Foundation, as the coordinator of the Legal Support Desk, editor for freedom of expression, and editor-in-chief. He has authored more than 4,800 signed news articles and opinion pieces. He has also written for Bizim Gazete and the journal Güncel Hukuk. He currently prepares the Media Monitoring Reports at bianet.