Number of people tried for 'insulting the President' exceeds 15 thousand
CHP Ankara Deputy Deniz Demir announced that exactly 15,791 people were brought before criminal courts last year on charges of "insulting the President" and "degrading the government."
Republican People's Party (CHP) Ankara Deputy Deniz Demir drew attention to the number of citizens brought before judges on charges of "insulting the President" and "degrading the government" according to 2023 justice statistics in a written statement.
Demir stated, "Last year, exactly 15,791 people were brought before judges in criminal courts."
The Ministry of Justice's 2023 justice statistics revealed that trials were conducted against a large number of citizens in accordance with Articles 299 and 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK). The number of defendants tried in criminal courts on the grounds of "insulting the President" is increasing every year.
Under the AKP government, the number of citizens tried for "crimes against the symbols of the state's sovereignty and the dignity of its organs" under Articles 299 and 301, which have been turned into a "tool to punish the opposition," has exceeded tens of thousands. The total number of files in criminal courts under the scope of "crimes against the symbols of the state's sovereignty and the dignity of its organs," which also includes the crime of insulting the President, reached 17,183, including files carried over from the previous year. The number of files that came to criminal courts for these crimes in 2023 alone reached 7,491.
THOUSANDS OF CONVICTIONS, INCLUDING 34 CHILDREN
Conviction decisions were made against 1,602 of the defendants tried in criminal courts last year under TCK Articles 299 and 301. A total of 1,982 defendants were given "deferment of the announcement of the verdict" decisions. The number of acquittals was recorded as 1,774.
While conviction decisions were made against 34 of the children tried under TCK Articles 299 and 301, "deferment of the announcement of the verdict" decisions were given for 91 children.
ANSWER TO CHP DEPUTY DEMIR'S PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION: NO DETAILED INFORMATION
CHP Ankara Deputy Deniz Demir asked for statistics on trials related to the crime of insulting the President in 2023. However, the Ministry of Justice replied that "there is no information in the requested detail." Noting that the Ministry is trying to hide the data, Ankara Deputy Deniz Demir said the following:
AN EMPIRE OF FEAR IS BEING ESTABLISHED THROUGH THE JUDICIARY
"One of the duties of the Ministry of Justice is to keep statistics regarding the judicial registry. However, in the response given to us, the Minister of Justice says that there is no detailed information regarding the crime of insulting the President. The crime of insulting the President in TCK Art. 299 falls under the scope of crimes against the symbols of the state's sovereignty and the dignity of its organs. The vast majority of the files tried under this heading consist of the crime of insulting the President. However, the Ministry hides this data instead of explaining the statistics separately for each crime in order to conceal these figures.
In 1748, Montesquieu said in his book 'The Spirit of the Laws', 'The closer the legislative, executive, and judicial powers are to each other, the more the state collapses.' The hiding of this data reminds us of Montesquieu's words. It is an attempt to establish an empire of fear through the judiciary, and while doing so, to hide the data from the public. The fact that the Ministry does not disaggregate the data is extremely meaningful."