Constitutional Court's Feyzioğlu ruling: Punishing the term 'yavşak' is a violation of freedom of expression

According to a report by Kısa Dalga, lawyer Süleyman Sırrı Kuş, who is registered with the Ankara Bar Association, shared a caricature featuring then-TBB President Metin Feyzioğlu on his social media account in 2019, during the period when the Judicial Reform Strategy Document announced by the President was being debated.

The caricature included an image of Feyzioğlu along with the caption, "You were the ones who built me up in your eyes; being 'yavşak' is in my genes." 

In the lawsuit filed following Feyzioğlu's complaint, the lawyer was sentenced to a judicial fine of 3,480 TL on the grounds that the expressions "constituted an attack on personal values," and the decision was upheld by the appellate court.

RULING OF RIGHTS VIOLATION

The Constitutional Court (AYM), which evaluated lawyer Kuş's individual application, ruled that freedom of expression had been violated.

The ruling stated that the caricature was "a form of expression where humor, exaggeration, and criticism are intertwined." 

Ordering a retrial, the AYM also decided that 34 thousand TL in non-pecuniary damages should be paid to the applicant.

News Source: 12punto