Lawsuit against Halk TV presenters for 'publicly insulting the President'! Prison time requested

A lawsuit has been filed against the channel's Editor-in-Chief Suat Toktaş and journalists Mehmet Tezkan and İbrahim Kahveci for "publicly insulting the President" due to comments they made on Halk TV. Prison sentences ranging from 1 year and 2 months to 4 years and 8 months are being requested for the three individuals.

In the indictment prepared by the Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor's Office Press Crimes Investigation Bureau, AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is listed as the complainant, while Toktaş, Tezkan, and Kahveci are listed as defendants.

The document states that the three journalists participated as commentators in the "Neden Sonuç with Seda Selek" program broadcast on September 23, 2024, and specifically includes remarks made by İbrahim Kahveci regarding Erdoğan.

Suat Toktaş stated that he is facing criminal liability as the responsible manager of the channel. In his statement included in the indictment, he emphasized that the main topic of the program was Israeli policies and that the President was only mentioned in a brief segment. Toktaş argued that the expressions used should be evaluated within the limits of criticism, not as insults.

Mehmet Tezkan stated that he brought up the example of Israel during the Middle East discussions and that when a Hitler-Netanyahu comparison was made, he said, "They are the same." In his statement, he expressed that his words remained within the framework of freedom of thought and expression and that he did not have any intent to insult.

İbrahim Kahveci also said that he only conveyed his views on current developments during the program, that his expressions did not contain insults, and that they should be evaluated entirely within the scope of freedom of expression.

In the indictment prepared by the prosecutor's office, prison sentences ranging from 1 year and 2 months to 4 years and 8 months were requested for the three journalists on charges of "publicly insulting the President." The file was sent to the Bakırköy 18th Criminal Court of First Instance and was accepted by the court.

News Source: 12punto