MEDIA MONITORING DATABASE
Ayten Akgün – trial for “insulting the President of the Republic”
RELATED PERSON OR INSTITUTION
Ayten Akgün
CITY
İstanbul
YEAR OF INTERFERENCE
2020
LAST UPDATED
07/01/2021
TYPE OF STATEMENT
Political
MEDIUM
Internet
Social Media Account
THE TITLE OF WHOSE RIGHT IS INTERFERED
Journalist
RIGHTS GUARANTEED UNDER THE RIGHT OF FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Right to Impart Information and Ideas
TYPE OF INTERFERENCE
Judicial Interference
Criminal Courts
Sentence to imprisonment
THE LEGAL GROUNDS FOR INTERFERENCE
Turkish Penal Code
Art. 299

Ayten Akgün has been put on trial over a news report titled “Torture in Halfeti” (Halfeti’de işkence) that she shared on Twitter.

Charged with “insulting the President of the Republic”, Akgün had her first hearing at the Anadolu 6th Criminal Court of First Instance on November 10, 2020. Announcing the opinion as to the accusations at the first hearing, the prosecutor demanded that Akgün be penalized. The next hearing will be held on January 7, 2021 (November 10).

At the hearing held on January 7, Akgün has been sentenced to 11 months, 20 days in prison on charge of “insulting the President of the Republic”; the pronouncement of the verdict has been deferred (January 7).