The Constitutional Court of Turkey (AYM) has overturned the conviction of journalist Sinan Aygül, who was sentenced and jailed for calling AKP Bitlis Deputy Vahit Kiler a "shrewd politician." The AYM ruled that the penalty for 'insult' violated freedom of expression and ordered a retrial, awarding Aygül 20,000 TL in compensation.
HAYRİ DEMİR
Sinan Aygül, the Editor-in-Chief of Bitlis News and President of the Bitlis Journalists Association, was sentenced for referring to AKP Bitlis Deputy Vahit Kiler as a "shrewd politician" in his article titled "Jeo-Vurgun" published on December 10, 2014, on the news website "www.bitlisnews.com." The conviction by the Tatvan 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance for "insult via press" was overturned by the Constitutional Court.
In the December 12, 2015 verdict, Aygül received a judicial fine of 1,500 TL, with the announcement of the verdict postponed under a suspended sentence. In 2019, Aygül was sentenced to ten months in prison for "violating the confidentiality of an investigation" related to his reporting on a sexual abuse case. This new sentence triggered the enforcement of the suspended sentence from the earlier insult case.
Aygül publicly denounced the verdict, stating, "Receiving a sentence from this case is a very painful situation for press and expression freedom; I cannot accept it," and refused to pay the fine. This led to an arrest warrant issued by the Tatvan Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, resulting in his detention on September 13, 2022, and subsequent release a day later under the COVID-19 pandemic furlough scheme.
'The penalty may silence different voices'
The Constitutional Court's decision on Aygül's individual application was issued on May 21, 2024. The Court found that the article did not significantly affect Kiler's private life and noted that penalizing even offensive remarks about politicians and public figures could have a chilling effect, silencing diverse voices in society and the public sphere.
Retrial and compensation ordered
The Court ruled that sentencing Aygül without addressing the public role of the complainant and treating the remarks as an insult violated the constitutionally protected freedom of expression. The Court ordered a retrial at the Tatvan 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance and awarded Aygül 20,000 TL in non-pecuniary damages.
