An indictment has been prepared for Sedef Kabaş for the offence of insulting the President (Turkish Criminal Code article 299) upon the complaint by the lawyers of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. İstanbul 2nd Anatolian Penal Court of First Instance accepted the indictment signed by Prosecutor Burhan Ergar.

Prosecutor Ergar cited 25 tweets of Kabaş as evidence of the crime. The related tweets of Kabaş include her posts between 2016-2021. Kabaş’s tweets criticizing the vaccination policies during the pandemic and her posts where she asks “Where is the 128 billion dollars?” are included in the indictment. The prosecutor mentions “intentional insult” and requests the journalist to be punished.

The first hearing of the case will be held on June 22, 2023 (March 13)

During the second hearing of the case on November 16, Kabaş’s lawyer Selen Sınmaz stated that the judge had lost his impartiality and requested the recusal of the judge. Sınmaz requested that the file be sent to the heavy penal court to discuss the request. The panel decided to send the file to the Anatolian Heavy Penal Court to discuss the request for change of judge. The next hearing is scheduled for February 8 (November 16).

The fourth hearing in the trial was held at the Anadolu 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance on 6 June 2024. The trial was adjourned until 7 November 2024 (June 6).

25 February 2025

At the hearing before the Istanbul Anadolu 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance, journalist Sedef Kabaş’s lawyers referred to the European Court of Human Rights’ Vedat Şorli judgment of 2010 and requested her acquittal. The court, however, ruled to wait for the finalization of verdicts in related cases pending before the Istanbul 36th Criminal Court of First Instance and the Istanbul Anadolu 7th Criminal Court of First Instance. The trial was adjourned to 19 June.

19 June 2025
The Istanbul Anadolu 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance continued the trial of journalist Sedef Kabaş, who is facing charges of “insulting the President” over more than 20 social media posts. The court decided to await the finalisation of the verdicts in two related cases pending before the Istanbul 36th Criminal Court of First Instance and the Istanbul Anadolu 7th Criminal Court of First Instance. The next hearing was scheduled for 13 November at 10:30 a.m.

13 November 2025

The eighth hearing of the “insulting the president” case against Sedef Kabaş, filed over 25 social media posts, was held at the İstanbul Anadolu 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance. After identity check, President Erdoğan’s lawyer requested a conviction. Kabaş’s lawyer referred to the ECtHR’s Vedat Şorli ruling and requested an immediate acquittal or dismissal of the case. The court noted that the case was connected to those at the İstanbul 36th and İstanbul Anadolu 7th Criminal Courts of First Instance and decided to wait for those rulings to become final. The next hearing is scheduled for 5 February 2026 at 10:20.