An investigation was launched against Yılmaz Özdil, a columnist for daily Sözcü, over his article titled “The zealot’s threat”, which he penned in response to a social media post of Ebubekir Sifil, a faculty member of Yalova University’s Faculty of Islamic Studies, about him. Özdil was charged with “insult” and “publicly degrading the religious values held by a segment of society”.
As part of the investigation launched upon the criminal complaint of Sifil, Yılmaz Özdil gave his statement at the Press Crimes Bureau of the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office on March 10, 2021 (March 10).