The Constitutional Court has overturned the ruling of damages given to Gerger Fırat newspaper’s owner and managing editor Hacı Boğatekin in 2012 on the grounds that he reported on the excavation works undertaken upon the dream of imam M.B. on duty in the region. The Court has concluded that the ruling of damages violated his “freedom of expression and press.”
Noting that the imam himself caused the issue to be covered by a journalist, the Constitutional Court has concluded that his freedom of expression and press guaranteed by Articles 26 and 28 of the Constitution was violated.
The Constitutional Court has also concluded that the duration of the trial was not reasonable and ruled that Boğatekin shall be paid 30 thousand lira in damages.
