MEDIA MONITORING DATABASE
Cem Bahtiyar – trial for “insulting the President of the Republic”
RELATED PERSON OR INSTITUTION
Cem Bahtiyar
YEAR OF INTERFERENCE
2021
LAST UPDATED
14/06/2021
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
Decision of acquittal
THE LEGAL GROUNDS FOR INTERFERENCE
Turkish Penal Code
Art. 299

A lawsuit was filed against journalist Cem Bahtiyar over his comment “Yeah, right…” on a Twitter post by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who tweeted, “I am addressing the entire world: No matter what the cost, we will not allow a state to be established in the north of Syria, in the south of Turkey.” Put on trial for “insulting the President of the Republic”, Bahtiyar was indicted by the Bandırma Public Prosecutor’s Office, which also cited it as a crime element that the journalist tweeted, “50 thousand petitions for Erdoğan’s trial will be submitted to the United Nations” (January 2). 

At the hearing held at the Bandırma 1st Criminal Court of First Instance on June 1, 2021, the hearing was adjourned as Cem Bahtiyar did not have his attorney. The next hearing will be held on June 14 (June 1).

At the hearing held on June 14, 2021, the court board ruled for the acquittal of Cem Bahtiyar (June 14).