Seray Şahiner, a Birgün columnist,was detained on Dec. 11 in Bursa province, where she was visiting to attend a literature event organized by the Turkish Union of Doctors (TTB). Şahiner was released after one night in custody. It later emerged that she was detained in relation to a monetary fine issued to her by a court for referring to Bilal Erdoğan, son of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, as “genius” in a column titled “Buraları Eskiden Hep Düz Liseydi” (All of this used to be regular high schools) published on Aug. 7 (platform24).
It was decided not to prosecute 1.5 years later on the grounds that there was no place for prosecution. The decision of the Bursa Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office dated 20 April 2018 was made public on 3 August.