CHP İstanbul Chair faces prison term for ‘insulting’ Presidency’s Communications head

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The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has indicted main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) İstanbul Chair Canan Kaftancıoğlu on charge of "publicly insulting a public official due to his or her duty" over her "act that overstepped the limits of freedom of expression".

She is now facing 1 year, 2 months to 2 years, 4 months in prison for "insulting" Presidency's Communications Director Fahrettin Altun.

As the reason for this charge, the indictment has cited the remarks of Kaftancıoğlu about the allegations that the house of Fahrettin Altun in Üsküdar's Kuzguncuk was an undue construction and the opposition-led İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İMM) intervened in this construction.

Following these remarks dated April 14, 2020, Fahrettin Altun submitted a petition via his attorney and filed a criminal complaint. According to the indictment, the investigation has been launched upon this complaint and Kaftancıoğlu dismissed the accusations in her defense.

The indictment has referred to the preliminary examination report of the Governor's Office of İstanbul, according to which a criminal case was filed against the İMM officials who did an undue intervention.

For this reason, the indictment has argued that the remarks of Kaftancıoğlu constituted an offending and libelous statement for which there was no obligation to make within the scope of expressing an opinion.

The indictment has been sent to the İstanbul Anadolu 40th Penal Court of First Instance. In the event that the indictment is accepted by the court, Canan Kaftancıoğlu will stand trial on the offense charged.

She faces 10 years in an ongoing trial

The court case filed by Altun against Kaftancıoğlu over her allegations about the undue construction next to his house is still pending. Standing trial at the İstanbul Anadolu 7th Penal Court of First Instance, Kaftancıoğlu faces 9 months to 10 years, 6 months in prison on charges of "inciting to commit crimes" and "praising the crime and criminal." (KÖ/SD)