Journalist sentenced for reporting on lawyer who posted photo from prosecutor's office

Journalist Furkan Karabay has been sentenced in a trial where he was charged with "publicly insulting the state's judicial organs" under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code for reporting on Istanbul Bar Association lawyer Buket Nurşah Tekışık's social media post, in which she shared a photo taken in a prosecutor's office.

The court sentenced Karabay to 5 months in prison for "insulting the judicial organs of the Turkish nation." In his defense, Karabay stated the following:

"Those who insult the state's judicial organs are the prosecutors who open fabricated terror files, ruin people's lives, and then come to their offices to engage with lawyers and have photos taken. If there is anyone insulting the state's judicial organs, it is the so-called lawyer who has photos taken nonchalantly in a terror prosecutor's office, shares them on social media, and seeks to gain benefits from it."

WHAT HAD HAPPENED?

Lawyer Buket Nurşah Tekışık had shared a photo taken in the office of a prosecutor working at the Terror and Organized Crime Investigation Bureau at the Çağlayan Courthouse on her social media account with the caption, "I never lose. I either win or I learn." Following this post, an investigation was launched into both the prosecutor and the lawyer.

Journalist Furkan Karabay, who reported on the post in question, conveyed public reaction in his news piece, noting that such a post by a lawyer from a prosecutor's office could damage the impartiality of the judiciary. However, this report led to Karabay being sued on charges of insulting judicial organs.

News Source: 12punto

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