MEDIA MONITORING DATABASE
Gökhan Biçici – trial for “insulting the President of the Republic”
RELATED PERSON OR INSTITUTION
Gökhan Biçici
CITY
İstanbul
YEAR OF INTERFERENCE
2021
LAST UPDATED
17/02/2022
TYPE OF STATEMENT
Political
MEDIUM
Internet
Internet News Portal
THE TITLE OF WHOSE RIGHT IS INTERFERED
Editor / Editor-In-Chief
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

dokuz8HABER news website’s Editor-in-Chief Gökhan Biçici has been put on trial on charge of “insulting the President of the Republic” before the İstanbul 8th Criminal Court of First Instance on the grounds of the news report published on the website on June 1, 2020 with the title “Hacker group Anonymous reacts against Erdoğan with Berkin Elvan example”. 

At the first hearing on November 25, 2021, the court accepted President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s request for involvement in the case and ruled that an expert report should be prepared. The next hearing will be held on February 17 (November 25).

At the hearing held on February 16, 2022, the court board concluded that Biçici did not act with a criminal intent and ruled for his acquittal (February 17).