Aygün sentenced to 7 months and 15 days in prison for “insulting religious values” in a social media post, sentence deferred

Journalist Hakan Aygün was sentenced to 7 months and 15 days in prison for “insulting religious values” at the final hearing of his trial, held on 16 March 2021 at the Bodrum 3rd Criminal Court of First Instance.

Aygün was charged with "inciting hatred and hostility" (Article 216/1 of the Turkish Penal Code/TCK) and "insulting religious values" (TCK 216/3) over five social media posts he allegedly shared on various social media platforms in March and April 2020.

Addressing the court in response to the accusations in the prosecutor’s final opinion, which was presented to the court during last week’s hearing, Aygün rejected the charges against him. Asserting that he did not accept the prosecutor’s final opinion, Aygün said that contrary to what the prosecutor claimed, there were no contradictions in his statements but that there were differences because his statements were not fully transcribed in the reports.

In his final opinion, the prosecutor had demanded that Aygün be sentenced for "insulting religious values" for his 31 March 2020 post; that the sentence to be given be increased by half pursuant to TCK 218/1, and that he be acquitted of “inciting hatred and hostility” because the elements of the offense had not occurred.

Ruling in accordance with the prosecution's final opinion, the court sentenced Aygün to 7 months and 15 days in prison for “insulting religious values adopted by a section of the public” (TCK 216/3) for a social media post that involved a wordplay on the term “IBAN.” This social media post was the subject of the second indictment against Aygün, issued on 6 May 2020 by the Bodrum Chief Public Prosecutor's Office. The court deferred Aygün’s sentence. Accordingly, Aygün will be subject to supervision for five years.

The court acquitted Aygün of the charges of "inciting hatred and hostility" (TCK 216/1) and "insulting religious values" (TCK 216/3) in the first indictment against him, issued on 6 April 2020, immediately on the heels of his imprisonment pending trial.

Aygün was taken into custody in Bodrum on 2 April 2020 over his social media post containing a wordplay regarding a donation campaign launched by President Erdogan due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The next day he was jailed pending trial and sent to the Muğla Prison.

The Bodrum Chief Public Prosecutor's Office issued an indictment against Aygün on 6 April 2020, seeking conviction for Aygün on the charges of "inciting hatred and hostility" and " insulting the religious values adopted by a section of the public," claiming that his social media posts "posed a clear and imminent danger to public safety and would disturb public peace."

Aygün was released pending trial at his first hearing, held on 6 May 2020. That day, the prosecutor's office issued a second indictment against Aygün, this time accusing him over the social media post for which he was arrested. On 15 May 2020, the trial court decided to merge the two indictments.