Lawsuit filed against İlyas Salman for 'insulting the President'

According to a report by Alican Uludağ from DW Turkish, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's lawyer, Ahmet Özel, filed a criminal complaint with the prosecutor's office against İlyas Salman, alleging that the phrase 'cheap man' constituted an insult.

The petition claimed that Salman's words were intended to belittle Erdoğan and that Salman was attempting to smear his client in the public eye and commit character assassination. Giving his statement as a suspect to the prosecutor's office on November 11, 2022, as part of the investigation, İlyas Salman did not accept the accusations.

"IT IS MY MOST NATURAL RIGHT TO SAY THAT I DO NOT LIKE SOMEONE"

Salman stated, "I do not accept that there is any criminal element in the content. In the Republic of Turkey, which is a secular, democratic, parliamentary, and social state of law, it is my most natural right to say whether I like someone or not, regardless of whether they are the President or a doorman, and this is not a crime. There are no criminal elements in the words used in the content either. The term ‘cheap man’ can only be considered a rude form of address."

TRIAL ON TUESDAY, OCTOBER 10

The trial of Salman will begin at the Istanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance on Tuesday, October 10.

WHAT HAPPENED?

Actor İlyas Salman had made the statement, "I do not deem Erdoğan worthy of that seat," in an interview he gave to BirGün Newspaper on August 1, 2022. During the interview, when asked, "What are you worried about regarding the country these days?", Salman had replied:

"I am worried about Tayyip, for example, most of all. When describing Turkey, I say, 'It is a country where those who are unworthy sit in important positions.' I do not deem Tayyip Erdoğan worthy of the Presidency. Because he is a cheap man. I know that I will go to court because of this. I am one of those who think that Recep Tayyip Erdoğan does not deserve the seat he occupies. Well, if you look at it with this logic, you might think that İlyas Salman is an artist who does not suit the seat he occupies."

News Source: 12punto