She had been released: Verdict in Çiğdem Bayraktar Ör's 'insulting the President' case
The court has announced its verdict in the trial of academic Çiğdem Bayraktar Ör, who was prosecuted on charges of insulting AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan due to a social media post.
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Academic Çiğdem Bayraktar Ör had been subjected to an investigation by the Anatolian Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on charges of "publicly insulting the President in a chain manner" due to a post she made on social media. Following her arrest on January 31, the prosecution had requested a prison sentence ranging from 1 year, 5 months, and 15 days to 8 years and 2 months for Ör.
In the first hearing held on February 24, the Anatolian 91st Criminal Court of First Instance decided to release Ör, who had been detained for 25 days, and ruled that she would be tried without arrest.
According to the report on Halk TV, Ör stated in her defense during the hearing that she rejected the accusations, noting that she did not mention any names in her post, did not insult the President, and was merely exercising her right to criticism.
The court ruled that Ör had committed the crime of "insulting the President" and sentenced her to 1 year, 2 months, and 17 days in prison. However, the court decided to defer the announcement of the verdict.
WHAT HAPPENED?
On January 29, 2025, Ör wrote a post on the social media platform X 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, having been able to become President without ever possessing the qualifications to be President."