Prison sentence for Fatih Altaylı!

The Istanbul 22nd Criminal Court of First Instance has sentenced journalist Fatih Altaylı to 7 months in prison for insulting Sabahattin Şirin, the leader of the Galatasaray fan group ultrAslan.

The court also rejected the request for the deferment of the announcement of the verdict.

According to T24's report; if the decision, which has been sent to the Istanbul Regional Court of Justice (Appeals Court), is upheld, the 7-month prison sentence for Altaylı will become final.

The indictment stated that Altaylı, who was working at Habertürk at the time, made statements on a television program he attended on August 1, 2019, regarding Muzaffer Şirin, the leader of the Galatasaray fan group, saying, “If ultrAslan were the fan group it was in its early years, it wouldn't be a problem. But it has now become a strange formation that hangs around with dark types who associate with cult leaders. At least its managers are like that.”

The indictment noted that in his column dated May 8, 2020, Altaylı again said of Şirin, “There is someone who is said to be the manager of ultrAslan. He was always known for hanging out with mafia wannabes and kissing the hands of cult leaders… A completely Nazi-remnant mindset. What the ignorant person doesn't know is that we, the Turks, embraced the Jews fleeing Germany in the late 1930s and 1940s. There is no difference for Turks between 1492 and 1942. But he is ignorant, after all. But what drives me crazy is that a man with this mindset walks around as the leader of the Galatasaray fan group.”

The indictment stated that Altaylı used the following expressions for the same person on May 28, 2020: “I am responding to those barking in Turkish; he is a mafia wannabe, a cult remnant, he was in the Beşiktaş stands. When he saw that the rent was higher, he moved to Galatasaray… He became the so-called leader of this fan group, a convict who sits with the mafia on his right and cults on his left… I spent 45 years in those stands. Those mafia-wannabe stand leaders were not in Galatasaray back then.”

It was stated that on April 28, 2021, he used expressions such as, “These are a group of thugs. I don't mean the fans. I mean those at the head of this. Who are you, you thugs.”

PEKER ALLEGATION

In his statement to the prosecutor's office, Altaylı requested a decision of non-prosecution, stating that “Muzaffer Şirin is known in the stands as Sabahattin Reis, that he has close relations with Sedat Peker and similar groups, and that his words were aimed at eliminating the threat created by such people for the purpose of obtaining rent.”

"I WROTE THESE ARTICLES TO CRITICIZE"

Altaylı also noted the following in his defense in court:

“When my entire article is examined, it will be understood that I did not insult anyone. I knew him by the name Sabahattin. The reason for the articles in question is that I saw attitudes and behaviors that do not befit a fan leadership. Because I saw photos of him on social media accounts taken with Sedat Peker, who is currently a fugitive and being tried for managing a criminal organization, and again photos taken with cult leaders, and because I could not reconcile these images with sports, I wrote these articles to criticize. My purpose was to criticize the combination of these issues with sports. I request my acquittal.”

In his opinion on the merits, the prosecutor requested that Altaylı be punished.

The Istanbul 22nd Criminal Court of First Instance found this request justified and sentenced Altaylı to prison.

CRIME OF INSULT

In the decision, summarizing Altaylı's words, it was stated, “Considering that the defendant clearly admitted in the presence of the court that he uttered these statements against the complainant, and furthermore, that the complainant has been the leader of the aforementioned fan group since its establishment, and that the defendant started his statement directly with the sentence ‘There is someone who is said to be the manager of the Galatasaray fan group ultrAslan...’, it has been established by our court that he committed the crime of public insult in a chain manner.”

The decision continued as follows:

“That criticism and insult should be evaluated separately in terms of freedom of expression, that verbal abuse can under no circumstances be accepted as criticism, that leaving these acts without sanctions would disrupt social peace and harm public order, therefore a sanction must be applied, that the aforementioned words were of a nature to offend the honor, dignity, and respectability of the complainant, and that the legal elements of the crime of chain insult were formed in the concrete case, and finally, that the element of publicity in the crime was realized because the insulting expressions were spoken on a program broadcast live on a television channel and in a column and could be seen by a large number of people…”

"THAT THE SANCTIONS DID NOT PROVIDE REHABILITATION..."

“Considering that there are many finalized (or deferred under Law No. 6352) court decisions stating that the defendant has violated the legal interests of individuals many times before by committing the act of insult, that these sanctions did not provide rehabilitation, and that the defendant continued his act against the complainant with chain actions, the intensity of the intent to commit the same crime, the insulting nature of the statements made against the complainant, and the fact that these statements were made in a medium that could be heard by large masses far beyond the element of publicity, the base penalty was chosen as a prison sentence.”

The decision also stated that the sentence was aggravated considering that Altaylı had committed this crime before.

NO DEFERMENT

The court first sentenced Altaylı to 4 months in prison for the crime of “chain insult.” Then, it decided to sentence him to 7 months in prison, aggravating it due to the crime being committed publicly and in a chain manner.

No reduction was made in the sentence due to the fact that there are many records of this crime in Altaylı's criminal record and he did not show remorse.

For the same reasons and because there was no conviction that he would not commit a crime again, it was not deemed necessary to defer the sentence, convert it into alternative sanctions, or defer the announcement of the verdict.

APPEALS COURT WILL DECIDE

The court also recently completed the justification for this decision, which it rendered on September 21, 2023. After this stage, the file went to the appeals court. If the appeals court finds the decision appropriate, Altaylı will have to go to prison because his sentence was not converted into alternative sanctions. How long Altaylı will have to stay in prison will be calculated according to the provisions of the Execution Law. It is stated that under current conditions, even if the sentence is upheld, Altaylı will have to stay in prison for a short time.

"AN INTERESTING CLUSTER"

In an article he wrote in Habertürk on January 31, 2023, titled "An assassination, a gang lawyer, a stand leader," Altaylı used the expressions, "The UltrAslan group, which has fallen into the hands of cultists and mafia-wannabe people who have descended like a nightmare on the Galatasaray Sports Club."

In the same article, Altaylı said, "Sebahattin Şirin, whose real name is Muzaffer, the so-called leader of UltrAslan," and said the following:

"Sebahattin Şirin, who is intertwined with various cults, who is alleged to have tried to spread FETÖ's message with the “Stand up” choreography he had done in the stands during the Mustafa Cengiz era, and who later came to the agenda with his visit to the İsmailağa Community.

On one side are contract killers, on one side are gangs, on one side are FETÖs, on one side are cults, on one side are sharia-advocating stand leaders.

An interesting cluster.

A political leader has a famous saying, saying “Who is with whom.”

Look at who is with whom..."