Hearing in Ümit Özdağ’s ‘threat’ trial adjourned to November 4
In the case filed upon the complaint of Şevki Yılmaz, the court adjourned the hearing due to the possibility that the nature of the crime could be re-evaluated as “insult.”
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The hearing in the trial where Zafer Party Chairman Ümit Özdağ is being tried on charges of “threat” following a complaint by former Welfare Party MP Şevki Yılmaz has been adjourned to November 4.
Following the statements made during the hearing, the court decided to postpone the case to the next session, evaluating the possibility that the nature of the crime could change from “threat” to “insult.”
In his defense, Özdağ stated that the words subject to the lawsuit could not be considered a threat. Noting that the prosecutor requested his punishment under Article 106/3 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK), Özdağ stated that he does not know Şevki Yılmaz and that they had not met before.
Stating that he reacted to the words Yılmaz used at the wedding of a member of the Ottoman dynasty, Özdağ said, “I am a professor in the field of political science. If I were a boxer, the conclusion to be drawn from this would be to beat someone. But as an academic who conducts studies in political science, what I would show is not physical violence, but documents related to information.”
Özdağ argued that neither the crime of insult nor threat could be derived from his words and requested his acquittal. His lawyer, Murat Yılmaz, also stated that there was no intent to threaten in his client’s words and assessed that “the material and moral elements of the crime have not been formed.”
BACKGROUND OF THE TRIAL PROCESS
The case is based on the controversy that began after Şevki Yılmaz used the words “I curse the ignoble ones who expelled the Ottomans” at the 2024 wedding of Berna Sultan Osmanoğlu, a member of the Ottoman dynasty.
Özdağ had responded to Yılmaz’s words on his social media account with the statement, “Şevki, I hope we meet somewhere. I will show you who is noble and who is ignoble.” Upon Yılmaz’s complaint, a lawsuit was filed against Özdağ on charges of “threat.”
Speaking in front of the Kocaeli Courthouse after the hearing, Özdağ said that the court evaluated that the crime of threat had not been committed, but that it would be discussed whether the words could be considered within the scope of insult.
Özdağ stated, “They will give the final decision on the 4th. I hope it will be a decision that will do justice proud.”