Journalists Sued Every Day Allegedly Insulting the President Erdoğan

The list of journalists charged with insulting the President Erdoğan gets longer each day. Five journalists from Evrensel Daily have been sued lately.

Erol Önderoğlu

Journalists Sued Every Day Allegedly Insulting the President Erdoğan

Managing Editor Vural Nasuhbeyoğlu and Publisher Mehmet Akif Koşar of Evrensel Daily have been sued for “insulting the President” according to the Article 299 of Criminal Code of the Republic of Turkey (TCK). The trial will start on October 1, 2015.

According to the Article 299, a person who insults the President shall be sentenced to 1 to 4 years in prison.

Evrensel’s lead writer İhsan Çaralan and other columnists Mustafa Köz and Erol Aral also were opened investigation for their columns.

In the first three weeks of September, at least 19 media employees were sued:

Caricaturist Musa Kart (Cumhuriyet), journalists and columnists Ekrem Dumanlı (Zaman),Ertuğrul Özkök (Hürriyet), Yavuz Baydar (Bugün), Tayfun Talipoğlu(Yurt), Onur Erem (BirGün), Murat Çapan (Nokta), Hasan Cemal (T24),Aytekin Gezici (Twitter), Gökçe Fırat Çulhaoğlu (Türk Solu), Atilla Taş(Meydan), Gülizar Baki (Meydan), Levent Kenez (Meydan), Ahmet Altan Vural Nasuhbeyoğlu (Evrensel), Mehmet Akif Koşar (Evrensel),İhsan Çaralan (Evrensel), Erol Aral (Evrensel) and Mustafa Köz(Evrensel).

Before September…

Many columnists and editor-in-chiefs; Özgür Mumcu (Cumhuriyet), Barış Pehlivan(Odatv.com), Ender İmrek (Evrensel), Barış İnce (BirGün) were put on trial according to the Article 299 before September. Judicial oppression from many different politic people also affects the universities and activist people. (EÖ/BD)

Click here to read the article in Turkish

*evrensel's headline in English: "100% Censorship , 90% Fear!"

This publication has been produced within the partnership with Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso for the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF), co-funded by the European Commission. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of IPS Communication Foundation and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union.

Origin

BIA News Desk

freedom of expression freedom of press TCK 299 insulting the president

Erol Önderoğlu

[email protected]

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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.