The court has ruled that Karabay's statements were within the scope of heavy criticism and vulgarity, and acquitted the journalist

CANSU PİŞKİN, İSTANBUL

The third hearing in the case brought upon the complaint of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's former lawyer Mustafa Doğan İnal against journalist Furkan Karabay on charges of “insult” and “defamation” over social media posts was held at the İstanbul 5th Criminal Court of First Instance on 19 November 2024.

The hearing was monitored by P24 and the lawyers of the parties were present. Karabay did not attend the hearing.

The prosecutor repeated their final opinion on the case presented at the hearing on 7 November 2024 and asked for Karabay's acquittal as the legal elements of the crimes of “insult” and “defamation” did not form in the social media posts subject to the case.

Mehmet İnal, the lawyer of the defendant Mustafa Doğan İnal, said, “The personal rights of our client have been violated in a public environment such as Twitter. This situation cannot be explained by neither freedom of the press nor freedom of expression. We demand that the defendant be punished.”

Karabay's lawyer Özge Naz Akkaya stated that they agreed with the final opinion and reiterated their demand for acquittal.

The court acquitted Karabay since it was understood that Karabay's statements were within the scope of heavy criticism and vulgarity and that it was not clear to whom some of them were directed.

Background of the case

Access to Karabay’s article titled “Erdoğan'ın avukatını neden tehdit etti? FETÖ Borsası iddialarının olduğu silahlı saldırıda iddianame çıktı” (Why did he threaten Erdoğan's lawyer? The indictment came out in the armed attack with allegations of FETÖ Exchange) published on Gerçek Gündem was blocked, after which Karabay shared the access block decision on his social media account and said, “An access block was imposed on the news item about the indictment of the armed attack on Mustafa Doğan İnal's convoy. The news was published on 19 April at 21:00. İnal applied to the court in the morning, and on the same day the judge ordered the access block. The judiciary is always too fast for some people.” Upon Mustafa Doğan İnal's complaint, an investigation was opened against Karabay.

In the one-page indictment filed by the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, Karabay's three social media posts on bribery allegations in courthouses were cited as evidence for the accusation.