Ölmez, who stood trial upon a complaint by AKP Provincial Chair Zeydin Kaya said, “I could not have stayed silent when a 13-year old girl was sexually assaulted and pushed to suicide”

The second and final hearing in the trial of journalist Nimet Ölmez on the charge of “insulting a public official” was held at the Hakkari 1st Criminal Court of First Instance on 24 April 2024. Ölmez was put on trial upon a complaint by Justice and Development Party (AKP) Provincial Chair for Hakkari Zeydin Kaya over her social media post concerning the news brought in by journalist Timur Soykan on a TV program.

While Ölmez, who delivered a statement upon instructions at the Van 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance on 22 April 2024 did not attend the hearing, her lawyer Fatih Aydın was present. P24 monitored the trial.

In her statement, Ölmez had rejected the charge of “insult” and said the following: “I did not intend to insult with my tweet in question. I wanted to draw attention to the incident. Because I could not have stayed silent when a 13-year-old girl was sexually assaulted and pushed to suicide. There was a lot of news about this incident, there was a lot of commentary, so I posted something concerning these comments. As the complainant later stated to the press that he was not a lawyer on this case and as he stated that he was not a public official, element of the crime has not formed. Furthermore, as I am a journalist, what I said comes under the freedom of expression. I request my acquittal.”

Lawyer Aydın said that Ölmez is a journalist, emphasized that she should be acquitted and cited the judgments by the European Court of Human Rights.

The prosecutor, who delivered their final opinion on the case following the defense statement requested Ölmez’s acquittal.

The court ruled to acquit Ölmez.

Background of the case

Journalist Timur Soykan had announced that three convicts, who were arrested in the Şemdinli district of Hakkari in 2016 on suspicion of sexually assaulting a girl and were convicted to 42 users of imprisonment each for “aggravated sexual abuse” and “depriving a person of liberty” had been released after eight months in prison. Soykan also said that AKP Provincial Chair for Hakkari Zeydin Kaya had represented the defendants as their lawyer for a period of time.

After the information was conveyed by Soykan, Nimet Ölmez shared Soykan’s speech on social media, including a post about Kaya. Zeydin Kaya’s daughter, who commented on Ölmez’s post, insulted Ölmez and accused her of spreading false information.

Soon after posting, Ölmez was called into give a statement at the Hakkari Chief Prosecutor’s Office on suspicion of “insulting a public official”.

Following her statement, the Hakkari Chief Prosecutor’s Office filed an indictment against Ölmez, which was subsequently accepted by the Hakkari 1st Criminal Court of First Instance.