The Küçükçekmece 2nd Penal Court of First Instance has ruled that the journalist shall be sentenced to 11 months and 20 days of imprisonment on the ground that he insulted Justice and Development Party (AKP) İzmir MP Binali Yıldırım in an article that he penned in 2014.
Considering the age, personality, social and economic condition of Dündar as well as his repentance in the trial process, the court has converted his sentence into a sanction as per the Article 50 of the Turkish Penal Code. The court has also concluded that as Dündar was previously convicted of an intentional crime, there is no ground to suspend the pronouncement of the judgement.
The aforementioned judgment has been given by the Küçükçekmece 2nd Penal Court of First Instance after the Supreme Court of Appeals reversed the judgment dated on 9 October, 2015. The court had also sentenced Dündar to 11 months, 20 days of imprisonment.
At the hearing held on June 1, 2022, the prosecutor reiterated the opinion as to the accusations, indicated that the expression “Thanks God, his name is ‘Binali’ (literally, Thousand Ali)! What if it had been ‘Milyonali’ (lit., Million Ali)!” constituted the offense of insult and demanded that Dündar be penalized. Making a statement as to the accusations, Dündar dismissed the charges. The court ruled that Dündar should be sentenced to 11 months, 20 days in prison on charge of “insult”. The prison sentence has been converted to a judicial fine corresponding to 350 days, namely 10,500 TRY (June 1).
