Climate and Energy expert Önder Algedik was acquitted in a trial where he faced charges under the "censorship law" for allegedly disseminating misleading information.
The second hearing of the case, which was opened against Algedik following a post he made about the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) after an earthquake, took place at the Ankara 24th Civil Court of First Instance. Algedik and his attorney Kerem Altıparmak from the Freedom of Expression Association (İFÖD) were present at the hearing.
The prosecution presented its opinion on the merits of the case. In the opinion, it was requested that an acquittal verdict be given on the grounds that “the legal elements of the alleged crime were not formed.”
Attorney Altıparmak, responding to the opinion, reiterated their previous defense statements, stating that the post was based on a real event.
The hearing concluded shortly thereafter with an acquittal verdict given for the reason that “the legal elements of the alleged crime were not formed.”
The charge against Algedik stemmed from his sharing on his X (Twitter) account of a visual prepared by the Anadolu Agency using data from AFAD, titled “NGOs become 'united in heart' to heal the wounds of earthquake victims.” The visual included names of foundations known for their closeness to the government and which have been the focus of various criticisms at different times, such as the Ensar Foundation, the Turkey Diyanet Foundation, TÜRGEV, and İHH. Despite the presence of numerous organizations working in solidarity with earthquake victims in the area, Anadolu Agency's list of "those extending a helping hand to citizens" featured only foundations and organizations close to the ruling party. Algedik's post, commenting “Does AFAD only see those with an issue with secularism as NGOs? Hide this. We saw AFAD not intervening in the earthquake and creating problems for those who did, but what is this on top of that?”, led to an investigation and subsequent lawsuit against him.
