Website Released After 18 Days

An Istanbul court lifts the ban on acces to the website antoloji.com, implemented with regard to alleged defamatory remarks, after 18 days. After YouTube and Eksisozluk, this is another case where courts rule to completely black out websites.

Erol Önderoğlu

Kadıkoy 1st Civil Court of First Instance annuls the ban on access to the website on culture and arts, www.antoloji.com, which it implemented on April 12.

The decision had been taken following a complaint by self-claimed religious leader Adnan Oktar's lawyers, on grounds that a reader's opinion published at the website compromised of defamatory remarks about him.

The website's lawyers appealed and the court ruled to lift the ban on condition that the remarks in question should be excluded from publication. Turk Telecom, the main Internet service provider in Turkey executed the order as of today.

Site's administrator Cengiz Ekrem Teymur made a public announcement saying the court's ruling was excessive and disproportional with regard to the alleged crime in the first place.

"A website which included millions of articles had been banned because of a few lines. This resulted in a violation of our users' rights to access and edit the site, despite our removal of the remarks in question even before the case had been brought before the court".

With the lack of any specific law on cyber crimes, Turkish courts often rule to black out websites on allegations of a crime. (EÖ/EÜ)

Origin

BÄ°A News Center

Erol Önderoğlu

[email protected]

all articles of the author

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.