Journalist faces lawsuit for reports on 'abusive father'

"Child absue is a crime" (Photo: csgorselarsiv.org)

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

Bianet editor Evrim Kepenek is facing a lawsuit for "insult" after a complaint by Refik Y., who was arrested for abusing his 6-year-old child and was later released on probation.

Kepenek wrote three news reports on the events titled, "Court gives custody of child to 'abusive' father," "Father arrested for 'abusing' his child," and "Father who 'abused' his child released on probation."

While he was in prison, Refik Y. filed a complaint against Kepenek for insult and violation of privacy. Kepenek gave a statement during the investigation in August. A case has been filed after the investigation.

In his petition of complaint, Refik Y. claimed that his spouse Nazlı U. slandered him to get custody of the child after their divorce.

Stating that his personal rights were damaged because of the reports in question, Refik Y. filed a complaint against three people, Aslı T., Gülten T. and Soner S., as well, for their social media posts about the issue.

The prosecution accepted the complaint as there was no final court ruling that Refik Y. had been found guilty of committing the alleged acts.

Noting that Kepenek's report was published on the internet, the prosecution excluded the case from the scope of the Press Law as it is applicable only to print publications.

The trial is expected to start in the coming months.

"A father's arrest for abuse is news"

A father's arrest for abusing his child is newsworthy "anywhere in the world," said Kepenek.

"As a journalist, I added information in the court minutes and reports," she noted. "My intention was not to insult anyone but to inform the public. I stand by my reports."

"I wouldn't like to become a talking point as a sued journalist, but I'd like to be a journalist who can find solutions to problems of women and children with her reports. This is what my journalism is based on. I hope we'll witness days when not journalists but perpetrators stand trial."

What happened?

Living in Selçuk, İzmir, Refik Y. and Nazlı U. decided to have a divorce. As there is no family court in Selçuk, the case was referred to the penal court of first instance. While the proceedings of divorce were still ongoing, a lawsuit was filed for the custody of 6-year-old Y.B. and M.M.

At the hearing on March 24, 2021, the attorneys of Nazlı U. submitted expert reports and psychologist's opinions to the court, documenting that the father had abused Y.B. However, taking only the Social Examination Report (SİR) prepared by a single psychologist, the court board gave the temporary custody of the child to the father. According to this decision, the mother would be allowed to meet her children at certain hours every Saturday.

The attorneys of Nazlı U. appealed against this decision. In their petition, they listed the indications of child abuse one by one. Attorneys Özgür Baykal and Fırat Güneş demanded that the temporary custody of the child be taken away from the father by considering the best interest of the child and that their objection to the SİR report be accepted.

The attorneys also requested that a new SİR report be issued after the child was examined by a board of experts, including a child psychiatrist, and that the specialist psychologists be heard at court.

However, the court rejected all of these requests.

With the report of the Forensic Medicine Institution affiliated with the Justice Ministry, it has been confirmed that the child was abused by the father.

Following the report documenting the finding of sexual abuse, father Refik Y. was arrested and sent to prison.

(HA/VK)