Former Minister Varank's 'insult' lawsuit! Prosecutor requested a sentence, Büyüksipahi and Güger acquitted

Former Minister of Industry and Technology Mustafa Varank's lawsuit filed against the news website of Cumhuriyet Newspaper, www.cumhuriyet.com.tr's former Editor-in-Chief Mustafa Büyüksipahi and Responsible Manager Mustafa Birol Güger regarding In the "insulting a public official" case, the journalists were acquitted.

Following a report published by BirGün on November 18, 2022, "Varank's 'cousin' snatched the land with a sea view!" an "insulting a public official" lawsuit was filed by AKP member Mustafa Varank.

In the previous hearing, journalist İsmail Arı was acquitted, while the trial of Mustafa Büyüksipahi and Mustafa Birol Güger continued due to the report's publication on cumhuriyet.com.tr.

Today (09.01.2024) At the hearing held at the Istanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance,the prosecutor, presenting their final opinion on the merits, argued that in this specific case, the words exceeded the boundaries of press freedom, carried the intent to insult, and that the elements of the crime of insult were present, thereby requesting the punishment of the journalists.

The court, however, ruled for the separate acquittal of journalists Mustafa Büyüksipahi and Mustafa Birol Güger on the grounds that the alleged act was not defined as a crime under the law.

Editor-in-Chief of www.12punto.com.tr and former Editor-in-Chief of cumhuriyet.com.tr Mustafa Büyüksipahi stated in his defense that the report was prepared using open sources and used the following expressions: "I stand by the report. Everything in the report prepared by my colleague İsmail Arı using open sources is clear and evident. Let alone journalists, any citizen can easily access the details of the report in question. The tender was held and was cancelled. Sedat Varank received the tender. He is also the cousin of Mustafa Varank. We saw no harm in publishing the report on Cumhuriyet.com.tr by citing the source. There is no insult to a public official."

News Source: 12punto