The court rules to acquit Görkem Kınacı, Uğur Şahin and Uğur Koç on charges of “defamation” and “insulting a public official” in trial launched upon a complaint by Constitutional Court Judge İrfan Fidan

TAMER KARALAR, İSTANBUL

The third hearing in the trial of Evrensel newspaper managing editor Görkem Kınacı, BirGün newspaper editor Uğur Şahin and birgun.net managing editor Uğur Koç on charges of “defamation” and “insulting a public official” was held at the Beykoz 6thCriminal Court of First Instance on 19 October 2022.

Lawyers for the parties attended the hearing, which P24 followed. Kınacı, Şahin and Koç did not attend the hearing.

Repeating their opinion as to the accusations presented at the previous hearing, the prosecutor stated that the defendants’ actions fell under the scope of the freedom of expression and the press and for this reason, the elements of the impugned crime did not exist and demanded the journalists’ acquittal.

Co-plaintiff İrfan Fidan’s lawyer demanded that the defendants be charged for the alleged crimes in his statement against the opinion. The lawyers of Kınacı, Şahin and Uğur repeated their previous defence statements and demanded their clients’ acquittal.

The court ruled to acquit defendants separately of “defamation” and “insult” offenses due to the lack of material and credible evidence proving that they had committed the impugned crimes.

Background of the trial

A lawsuit was filed against Evrensel newspaper managing editor Görkem Kınacı, BirGün newspaper news director Uğur Şahin and birgun.net managing editor Uğur Koç, who on 11 October 2020 reported on the social media posts of the Workers' Party of Turkey (TİP) MP Ahmet Şık on allegations concerning a “senior member of the judiciary.” The lawsuit was filed upon a complaint by Constitutional Court Judge İrfan Fidan.

İrfan Fidan’s spouse had also filed criminal complaints regarding the same posts that were published in Evrensel and BirGün newspapers. The İstanbul 56th Criminal Court of First Instance had ruled to acquit Görkem Kınacı at the first hearing on 11 October 2021.