Newspaper Yeni Asya Acquitted In The State Council Case

Faruk Çakır, director in-charge of the newspaper Yeni Asya, has been acquitted of the case in which he was on trial for “violating the secrecy of the investigation” by writing the article titled “Danıştay Soruşturması Genişletiliyor” (The State Council Investigation Widened).

Ali Çakır, Bağcılar/Istanbul Prosecutor, had filed a lawsuit at the 11th High Criminal Court of Ankara against  the article that had announced the connections between the finding of ammunition in a shack in Ümraniye/Istanbul and the attack on the State Council were going to be investigated.

Çakır was facing 4,5 years in prison

The prosecutor had shown some statements from the investigation file about the State Council case and concluded that the secrecy of the investigation was violated.

In the verdict hearing on December 2, Muhterem Bulut, head of the 16th Criminal Court of First Instance of Bakırköy, had acquitted the suspect of the crime elements of which had not been established.

In the indictment that was penned on July 25, Çakır was facing 4,5 years in prison for not revealing the names of the reporters who had written the report.

The crime of “violating the secrecy of the investigation in the Turkish Penal Code

According to article 285 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK), “(1) The person who violates the secrecy of the investigation will be punished by prison sentence up to three years. However, if the concern is the violation of the secrecy of the decisions that are taken during the investigation and are to be kept confidential because of the law, and the procedures that take place because of these decisions, then the criteria of publicity will not be sought. (3) If these crimes are committed by using the media then the sentence will be increased by half. (EÖ/TB)