Social media user fined 5,300 lira for calling MHP's Bahçeli a 'dotard'

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A Facebook user in İstanbul has been given a judicial fine of 5,300 lira (614 USD) because of their posts about Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Chair Devlet Bahçeli.

The Ankara 25th Penal Court of Peace, considering the "attributes of the crime" as per Article 125/1 of the Turkish Penal Code, imposed a 90-day administrative fine. Bahçeli also intervened in the case as a plaintiff.

It increased the fine because "it is understood that the offense of insult was committed against a public official because of his duty" and "the defendant committed the offense publicly."

With reductions, the judicial fine was determined as 265 days. With each day of fine amounting to 20 lira, the defendant will pay 5,300 lira in total.

The fine can be paid in 20 equal installments at one-month intervals. If the payment is not made, the penalty will be converted to imprisonment.

The court deferred the pronouncement of the verdict after "taking into account that the defendant has no criminal record, positive conviction has arisen that they would refrain from committing a crime in the future."

In the post subject to the case, the defendant called Bahçeli a "dotard."

"Put him into a nursing home, he is well in his dotage, he has completely gone crazy," he commented on a report on Bahçeli's remarks on the Facebook page of daily Sözcü. (AS/VK)