Jailed Turkish journalist looking at decade behind bars


Feb 11 2022 08:52 Gmt+3
http://ahval.co/en-136435


Istanbul’s chief public prosecutor has prepared the indictment against jailed Turkish journalist Sedef Kabaş, demanding up to 11 years and 8 months in prison for insulting state officials, daily Sözcü reported on Friday.

Kabaş has been under arrest since Jan. 22 for insulting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, while the current indictment is a combined charge of insulting the president and insulting public officials.

The journalist may be sentenced to between 1 year 5 months to 7 years for insulting Erdoğan publicly and repeatedly, and to between 2 years 4 months to 4 years 8 months for two counts of insulting Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu and Infrastructure Minister Adil Karaismailoğlu.

In her initial defence statement, Kabaş said she did not intend to insult any official, and was merely using a metaphor to fortify meaning.

“When an ox lives in a palace it does not become king, the palace becomes a sty,” Kabaş had said during a television broadcast, to which Erdoğan responded by saying the journalist would not go unpunished.

Kabaş will face a judge if the indictment is accepted by the court.

In a separate lawsuit, Erdoğan has demanded 250,000 liras ($18,500) in compensation for libel.

Investigations and convictions under Article 299 of the Turkish Penal Code, insulting the president, have catapulted since Erdoğan took office in 2014. Lawsuits over the crime of insulting the president have increased by 9,000 percent since 2010, according to a 2021 report based on Justice Ministry data.

Visiting the journalist behind bars last week, main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Deputy Chairwoman Gülizar Biçer Karaca called for the annulment of Article 299, according to Sözcü.

“Since the 2018 elections, there has been in place an executive presidential system where the president is not neutral. Article 299 still being in force under this system is unacceptable,” Karaca said.

Erdoğan “has it in for me because I once said if he was an economist I was the queen of England,” Kabaş said in a message sent via Karaca.

The journalist has outstanding lawsuits for insulting Erdoğan dating back to 2018.


Erdoğan files libel suit against jailed journalist Sedef Kabaş


Feb 08 2022 08:59 Gmt+3
http://ahval.co/en-136235

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has filed a libel lawsuit against journalist Sedef Kabaş, who was arrested last month on charges of “insulting” the Turkish leader, T24 news site reported.

Erdoğan is seeking 250,000 liras (approximately $18,400) in damages from the renowned media figure, T24 said, citing Kabaş’s lawyer, Uğur Poyraz.

Kabas is behind bars on charges of targeting the Turkish president with a proverb, which she quoted on live television during a programme on an opposition linked TV network last month. The 52-year-old denies the charge.

The well-known former television host was detained on January 22 in Istanbul and a court ordered her to be jailed ahead of a trial.

The charge against Kabaş stems from her remark “When cattle enters a palace, it does not become king but the palace becomes a stable,” which she made during a discussion programme on TELE 1 on January 14.

Kabaş maintains she was using a proverb and changed the phrase, from ox to cattle, and thus did not mean to insult the president, according to Turkish media reports.

Kabaş was waiting on her indictment in the case, T24 cited her lawyer as saying, but “instead was served with a libel suit for 250,000 liras.’’

Last month, Erdoğan vowed that the journalists’ “crime” of insulting him, which carries a maximum prison sentence of four years, according to Article 299 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK), would not go unpunished.

Investigations and convictions under Article 299 have catapulted since Erdoğan stepped into office as president in 2014. Lawsuits over the crime of insulting the president have increased by 9,000 percent since 2010, according to a 2021 report based on Justice Ministry data.