Cansu Pişkin, İstanbul – The second hearing of Kamil Tekin Sürek, a columnist for Evrensel newspaper who attracted the ire of President Erdoğan by publishing an article titled ‘Fascist Dictatorship’, was adjourned to give a newly assigned judge time to review the charges.
Sürek has been accused of insulting the President, a crime under Article 299 of the Turkish Penal Code. The hearing, which took place at Bakırköy 2. Court of First Instance, began with the replacement of the presiding judge. New documents concerning the replacement were then read into the case file. Sürek, his lawyer Devrim Avcı and President Erdoğan’s lawyer Abdulsamet Aydın were all present at the hearing.
Avcı requested that the case file be sent to the Constitutional Court on the grounds that Article 299 violates the Turkish Constitution and European Convention on Human Rights by working to silence political critiques. Aydın requested that Avcı’s submissıon be rejected.
The court chose to adjourn the hearing until December 6 to give it time to review both the case file and Avcı’s request that the case go to the Constitutional Court.
Updated: November 29 2018
