12punto reports from Çağlayan: Ümit Özdağ appears in court

Zafer Party Chairman Ümit Özdağ was detained on January 20 on allegations of insulting AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and was arrested on January 21 for “publicly inciting hatred and enmity” due to his past social media posts regarding events in Kayseri.

The indictment for Özdağ, who is being held in Silivri Prison, was prepared months later.

Zafer Party leader Özdağ is appearing in court for the first time today on the charge of “insulting the President.” The trial for “inciting the public to hatred and enmity,” for which he is currently detained, will be heard on June 11.

Today's hearing was scheduled to take place at the Istanbul 35th Criminal Court of First Instance, but was moved to the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court hall due to lack of space.

Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairman Özgür Özel cancelled his party's group meeting today and went to the Çağlayan Courthouse to follow the hearing.

Many lawyers, as well as CHP and Zafer Party officials, were not allowed into the courtroom. While riot police set up barricades at the entrance to the courtroom, those who came to follow the hearing chanted, “President Ümit is not alone,” “We are the soldiers of Mustafa Kemal,” and “Down with tyranny, long live freedom.”

CASE ADJOURNED

The hearing of the case in which Zafer Party Chairman Ümit Özdağ is being tried for “publicly insulting the President” has been adjourned by the court until September 10, 2025.

WHAT HAPPENED?

Zafer Party Chairman Ümit Özdağ was first detained on charges of “insulting the President” due to remarks he made about President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during a speech at the Provincial Chairmen's Consultation Meeting held in Antalya on January 19, 2025, and the investigation was later expanded to include charges of “inciting the public to hatred and enmity.” In this speech, Özdağ had used expressions such as, “No Crusade in the last thousand years has caused as much damage to the Turkish nation and the Turkish state as President Erdoğan and the AKP have,” and also stated that the Turkish nation's religious beliefs had been harmed during President Erdoğan's term and that refugee policies were destroying Turkish culture.

He was detained on January 20, 2025, while eating at a restaurant in Ankara, taken to Istanbul, where he gave a statement to the police and underwent a health check. The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office examined not only Özdağ's speech but also his social media posts since 2020, assessing that his posts, particularly those regarding refugees, constituted the crime of “inciting the public to hatred and enmity.” The prosecution presented as evidence Özdağ's 2022 response to a post by Süleyman Soylu regarding houses built for Syrians in Idlib, as well as his 2024 comments on events involving refugees in Kayseri.

Giving his statement at the Çağlayan Courthouse on January 21, 2025, Özdağ was released from the “insulting the President” charge but was referred to court with a request for his arrest on the charge of “inciting the public to hatred and enmity.” The court ruled that Özdağ's social media posts and speeches were provocative in nature and issued an arrest warrant. Following this decision, Özdağ was sent to Marmara Prison in Silivri.

News Source : 12punto