The indictment against Ölmez was recently accepted by the Hakkari 1st Criminal Court of First Instance

Journalist Nimet Ölmez is charged with “insulting a public official” in a new indictment, where the accusation stems from a social media post she shared based on a report by journalist Timur Soykan in a news show on Halk TV.

Soykan had reported that three defendants arrested for sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl in Hakkari’s Şemdinli district in 2016 and sentenced to 42 years in prison for “sexual abuse” and “deprivation of liberty” had been released after being detained for eight months and that AKP Hakkari Provincial Chair Zeydin Kaya had one time represented the three accused as their lawyer.

Following Soykan’s report, journalist Nimet Ölmez shared a social media post in which she commented about Kaya and also posted the video of Soykan’s report. Commenting on Ölmez's post on social media, Zeydin Kaya’s daughter insulted Ölmez and accused her of spreading false information.

Shortly after sharing this post, Ölmez was summoned to testify by the Hakkari Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office on the allegation of “insulting a public official.” Ölmez, who gave her statement at the Van Police Department, stated that her social media post was within the scope of freedom of expression and the press, and said that she shared her reaction after watching the story Soykan covered. Ölmez rejected the allegation.

After taking Ölmez’s statement, the Hakkari Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office issued an indictment against the journalist on the charge of “insulting a public official.” The indictment was recently accepted by the Hakkari 1st Criminal Court of First Instance.

Reacting to the new case against her, Ölmez said: “Frankly, I am not surprised at such a case being filed after the defendants who sexually assaulted E.Y. and dragged her to death were released. I don’t think justice has been served in that case. Every citizen with a conscience can react like I did -- to those who threatened E.Y. and her family, the villagers, the relatives, the village head and ultimately to Zeydin Kaya, who was the lawyer of the defendants for a while. As always, journalists are particularly being intimidated and rendered unable to do their jobs through these court cases.”