Journalist Oktay Candemir acquitted of ‘insulting the President’

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The third hearing of the trial where journalist Oktay Candemir was charged with "insulting the President" over a column was held today (March 4). The court has acquitted Candemir of the offense charged.

While journalist Candemir did not attend the third hearing of the trial heard by the Van 3rd Penal Court of First Instance, his attorneys Erhan Çiftçiler and Erselan Aktan were present in the courtroom.

As reported by the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA), following the identity checks, the prosecution presented their final opinion as to the accusations and requested the penalization of Oktay Candemir as per the Article 299 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK).

Candemir was reportedly charged with "insulting the President" due to the following expressions included in one of his columns in 2019:

"[President, AKP Chair] Erdoğan who appoints trustees to municipalities, has discovered how each political organization is situated. He will now stack the cards accordingly. There will take place a birth. Knowing this, Erdoğan is doing his best to make sure the baby is born crippled."

Candemir also shared this article on social media.

'Resist politics'

Following the opinion of the prosecutor, attorney Çiftçiler took the floor and began his defense by noting that the judiciary should resist politics.

Attorney Çiftçiler said, "Unfortunately, the judiciary rests under the influence of politics. My client's social media post does not include insult, but rather falls under political criticism. Everybody know that, today, the legislative, executive and judicial powers are resting in one single hand. Will all citizens arguing against this be committing a crime? Does the post include insult? Not at all. Should everyone acclaim all that is said? Should no one express criticism against the political power? The judiciary serves the people. Thus, it should protect not the state or the political power, but the people."

Çiftçiler ended his defense by noting that they do not accept the prosecutor's final opinion, and requested the acquittal of Candemir.

'It goes against Human Rights Action Plan'

Noting that he agrees with Çiftçiler, attorney Aktan added:

"A few days ago, the President announced a Human Rights Action Plan. Article 9 of the text clearly states that no one can be deprived of their freedom based on what they think or their expressions. This trial and the final opinion of the prosecutor is clearly contradicting the action plan. The final opinion is neither in compliance with the law nor with the action plan declared by Erdoğan. My client is a journalist, and he has put forth an analysis regarding the policies of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Erdoğan. His statements fall under political criticism."

Following the defense statements, the court came to its final decision and ruled for the acquittal of journalist Candemir on the grounds that the elements of the crime did not occur. (HA/SD)