Upon the investigation carried out by the Mersin Public Prosecutor’s Office, a criminal lawsuit has been filed against Mesopotamia Agency reporter Ahmet Kanbal in April 2018, seeking up to 9 years imprisonment. Kandal is on trial at the Izmir 2nd High Criminal Court for ”making propaganda of an organization as succesively”.
In the indictment, where 31 Twitter posts were presented as evidence, the allegations that the rockets targeting Reyhanlı were thrown by Ahrar al-Damascus and the caricature prepared by World Famous Cartoonist Carlos Latuff in the operation of Afrin were also included.
At the 3rd hearing of the case, the court decided to obtain permission from the Ministry of Justice for the trial of Kanbal under article 301/4 of the Penal Code.
The Ministry of Justice rejected the request for trial under Article 301.
According to the opinion of the Prosecutor’s Office, the journalist’s views should be evaluated within the scope of freedom of expression and he shall be acquitted.
At the last hearing on 13 December 2019, the court decided on the acquittal of the journalist.