Berat Albayrak, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources at the time, filed a lawsuit against BirGün Publishing Coordinator İbrahim Varlı for articles highlighting the relation between Berat Albayrak and Panama Documents. The Istanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance decided that Varlı committed the crime of “insult” by the news published on May 11, 2016, and sentenced him to 7 thousand 100 TL, on 25 March 2017.
Upon taking the decision to the appeal, The 23rd Penal Chamber of İstanbul Regional Court of Justice reversed the decision and ruled for the acquittal of Varlı.
