A research assistant at Middle East Technical University (METU), has filed a compensation lawsuit over an article by bianet's women’s news editor Evrim Kepenek published in her weekly “Women’s Agenda” (Kadınların Gündemi) column.
The lawsuit concerns Kepenek’s article titled “Is the academic at METU accused of violence being protected because his father is a prosecutor?” published on Apr 5.
The academic, identified with his initials K.Ö., is seeking 250,000 liras (~5,550 US dollars) in compensation from Kepenek, the IPS Communication Foundation/bianet and the Diken news site, which had quoted the article.
The Ankara 9th Civil Court of First Instance accepted the complaint and ruled that the case would proceed under written trial procedure.
In her article, Kepenek mentioned allegations of harassment and violence against the academic without mentioning his full name, referring to him only by his initials.
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'No final conviction'
In the complaint submitted through his lawyer, K.Ö. stated that a criminal prosecution related to the incident covered in the article is ongoing against him at the Ankara 14th Penal Court of First Instance, but that there is not yet a final conviction.
Lawyer Hüseyin Turgut stated the following in the petition:
“Although there is an ongoing criminal prosecution against my client at the Ankara 14th Penal Court of First Instance, it must be emphasized that the acts alleged against the client were in no way committed by him. Moreover, there is no final conviction against my client.
“On the contrary, a decision of non-prosecution has been issued for some of the accusations, while the judicial process is still ongoing for the remaining allegations.
“As such, presenting allegations that we in no way accept and that have not yet been established by a final judgment as if my client were guilty in the eyes of the public and had committed the alleged acts is clearly contrary to the presumption of innocence, the right not to be stigmatized and my client’s personal rights.”
In the petition, lawyer Turgut argued that the reports published by bianet and Diken were “false, distorted, biased and damaging to personal rights.”
He argued that describing K.Ö. as “perpetrator of violence” constitued a violation of the presumption of innocence guaranteed under Article 38 of the Constitution.
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He claimed that K.Ö. experienced “deep sorrow, distress and moral devastation” because of the reports about him, and that his professional reputation, standing in academic circles and social life, as well as his personal peace, were harmed.
The petition also stated that the articles in question remain accessible and requested that the content be temporarily removed from publication during the trial, or, if that is not possible, that access to it be blocked.
Court allows complaint to proceed
A complaint was filed with the Ankara 9th Civil Court of First Instance on Apr 8, three days after the article was published. The court accepted the complaint the next day, allowing the compensation case to proceed.
The court issued its preliminary proceedings report on Apr 9. It stated that there were no deficiencies in the petition, accepted it and ruled that the case would proceed under written trial procedure.
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According to the preliminary proceedings report, the defendants must submit their responses within two weeks of being served with the petition. The court also decided to send an official request to the Ankara 14th Penal Court of First Instance to obtain the case file concerning the report via UYAP.
It stated that the plaintiff’s request for an interim injunction would be evaluated through an interim ruling. (HA/VK)
