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New development regarding academic Çiğdem Bayraktar Ör, who was arrested for insulting the President!

Academic Çiğdem Bayraktar Ör, who was arrested on charges of insulting the President, has been released.

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A release decision has been issued for academic Çiğdem Bayraktar Ör, who was arrested on January 31 due to a critical post she made on her social media account.

At the first hearing held at the Anatolian 91st Criminal Court of First Instance, Ör connected via the Audio and Video Information System (SEGBİS) from the prison where she was being held, and her defense attorney was also present at the hearing.

In her defense at the hearing, Ör denied the accusations against her and stated that the social media account in question belonged to her.

Stating that the content of her posts did not contain elements of insult, Ör defended herself by saying, "I have no intention to insult. I am a journalist; by the nature of my profession, I write comments and make posts in the form of criticism. Therefore, I do not accept the allegation that I committed the crime of insulting the victim."

Ör's attorney, Hüseyin Ersöz, also argued that when the posts in question are evaluated in line with the precedents of the Court of Cassation, the decisions of the Constitutional Court, and the European Court of Human Rights, the posts fall within the scope of criticism and commentary, and he requested his client's release.

Following the defense statements, the public prosecutor announced his opinion on the merits.

The prosecutor, who requested that the defendant be sentenced to imprisonment ranging from 1 year, 5 months, and 15 days to 8 years and 2 months for the crime of "publicly insulting the President" in a chain manner, requested that Ör be released.

Announcing its interim decision, the court ruled for the defendant's release.

The court, which gave the parties' attorneys time to prepare their statements against the prosecutor's opinion, adjourned the hearing.

WHAT HAPPENED?

On January 29, 2025, in a post she made on the social media platform X, Ör wrote a piece criticizing AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the People's Alliance government.

In her post, Ör referred to President Erdoğan as a "'diploma-less', incompetent, partisan President who feeds on spite and was able to become President without ever possessing the qualifications to be President."