A lawsuit is filed against Die Welt Newspaper reporter Deniz Yücel allegedly insulting a public officer by a tweet he shared on 20 February 2019. At the first hearing held at İstanbul 24 Assize Criminal Court, Yücel’s lawyer Veysel Ok stated that the court soon will be informed about the journalist’s address in Germany. Next trial will be on 11 June 2020.
At the 3rd hearing held on October 13, 2020, the court has ruled that Yücel’s statement shall be taken by notifying an instruction to his address in Germany. The next hearing will be held on September 9, 2021 (October 13).
At the hearing held on September 9, 2021, after it was stated that Deniz Yücel’s defense statement had been submitted to the file and expressed readiness for making defense as to the accusations, the prosecutor requested time for the opinion as to the accusations. The court board granted time to the prosecutor for the opinion as to the accusations. The next hearing will be held on November 30 (September 9).
At the hearing held on November 30, 2021, the prosecutor pronounced his opinion as to the accusations and demanded that Deniz Yücel be penalized on charge of “publicly insulting a public official” on the grounds that his message about complainant Hasan Yılmaz on his social media account was of dishonorable, degrading and defamatory nature. The prosecutor demanded that Yücel be sentenced to up to 2 years, 4 months in prison. The court accepted the request of Yücel’s lawyers for additional time. The next hearing will be held on December 28, 2021 (November 30).
At the hearing on December 28, 2021, the prosecutor requested the rectification of the deficiencies in the file. The court gave time for the preparation of the defense as to the accusations. The next hearing will be held on February 8, 2022 (December 28).
At the hearing held on February 8, 2022, journalist Deniz Yücel was sentenced to pay a judicial fine of 7,080 Turkish Lira in the trial where he was charged with “insulting a public official” upon the criminal complaint of prosecutor Hasan Yılmaz, who indicted the journalist in the court case which ended in his conviction (February 8).
