Altun files complaint! Insult lawsuit against 90-year-old dementia patient

Hannan Akgül, who was born in the Elbistan district of Kahramanmaraş and is originally from Kırıkhan, Hatay, has been living in the Netherlands for many years. His birth date is listed as 1938 on his ID card. However, due to the conditions of that era, he was registered in the civil registry when he was 5 years old.

AUGUST 30 COMMENT

According to a report by Timur Soykan from BirGün; on August 30, 2020, while browsing Facebook, Hannan Akgül saw a post made by a user named E.K.T. about Presidency Communications Director Fahrettin Altun. The Facebook user was claiming that Fahrettin Altun had celebrated the August 30 Victory Day without mentioning Atatürk's name.

Hannan Akgül, who was 87 years old in 2020, wrote the following comment on this post:

“Dear friends, these people cannot even be the dust on Atatürk’s shoes. Let them burst if they want to. Who is Atatürk and who are these thieves. Anyway.”

CRIMINAL COMPLAINT FILED AND LAWSUIT OPENED

Two years later, in 2022, Fahrettin Altun’s lawyer filed a criminal complaint against Hannan Akgül. In 2023, an investigation was launched for the crime of ‘publicly insulting a public official via an audio, written, or video message.’ During this time, Hannan Akgül was suffering from dementia. After it was determined that the elderly man did not have an address in Turkey, an arrest warrant was issued on October 13, 2023. This means that if the elderly man comes to Turkey, he will be immediately taken into custody.

During this process, it was determined that he had publicly insulted the 90-year-old man in a manner that offended his honor, dignity, and reputation via social media, and a lawsuit was filed at the 46th Criminal Court of First Instance at the Istanbul Anatolian Courthouse.

In the hearing on November 2, 2023, the judge issued a decision of lack of jurisdiction, stating that Fahrettin Altun lives in Ankara and therefore the case should proceed in Ankara. The decision stated that the case should be heard at the Ankara Criminal Court of First Instance.

News Source: 12punto