Koç was on trial for a photograph of the perpetrator in the news item titled “Man who caused death of dog through sexual abuse arrested” containing a photograph of President Erdoğan in the background

CANSU PİŞKİN, İSTANBUL

The fifth hearing in the trial of BirGün newspaper Managing Editor Uğur Koç on the charge of “insulting the president” was held at the İstanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance on 28 March 2024.

Lawyers for the parties were present at the hearing, which P24 monitored. Koç did not attend the hearing.

The prosecutor had presented their final opinion on the case at the previous hearing and requested sentencing for Koç for the impugned crime of “insulting the president.” Co-plaintiff President Erdoğan’s lawyer said they agreed with the opinion and requested sentencing for Koç.

Koç’s lawyer Ali Deniz Ceylan said, “The subject of the news item is not President Erdoğan and my client had no intent of criticizing Erdoğan. Therefore, neither the material elements nor criminal intent for the impugned crime have formed. We think that the opinion calling for sentencing is in violation of the criteria of proportionality and necessity in the Law on the Press” and requested his client’s acquittal.

The court sentenced Uğur Koç to 11 months and 20 days of imprisonment for the crime of “insulting the president.” The sentence was suspended.

The case against Koç on the charge of “insulting the president” was filed on the grounds that the photograph of the perpetrator used in the news item titled “Köpeğe cinsel istismarda bulunarak ölümüne neden olan erkek tutuklandı,” (“Man who caused death of dog through sexual abuse arrested”) which was published on BirGün’s website on 23 July 2020, included a photograph of President Erdoğan in the background.