Journalist Haluk Kalafat’s tweets don’t insult the President, says the Prosecutor’s Office

İstanbul - Anadolu Chief Prosecutor’s Office found no ground for prosecution as a result of the investigation against former bianet Editor-in-Chief journalist Haluk Kalafat, who was accused of “insulting the president” in four tweets from 2018. Haluk Kalafat’s tweets were included in a research report prepared by the Ankara Police Department pursuant to Turkish Penal Code’s Article 299, which regulates “insulting the President” offense. Kalafat, whom MLSA represents, was accused based on tweets from August 2018 that included critical remarks about the currency and debt crisis of the time.  Kalafat had provided a statement on November 19, 2019 at the Press Crimes Investigation Bureau in İstanbul Anadolu Chief Prosecutor’s Office with MLSA lawyers. “The twitter account and the tweets from this account that were included in the law enforcement’s research report belong to me indeed. However, none of my posts have an element that constitutes insult. I am a journalist and I’ve stated my opinions within the scope of freedom of expression,” Kalafat had said in his statement. The nonsuit decision of Anadolu Chief Prosecutor’s Office stated that Haluk Kalafat’s social media posts that were investigated had no “statement or visual that constitutes a crime by exceeding the scope of freedom of expression.”  Tweets that were included in the investigation: [embed]https://twitter.com/HalukKalafat/status/1027803029788127232[/embed] This statement shows that Erdoğan doesn’t know shit about the economy. [embed]https://twitter.com/HalukKalafat/status/1027887838187204610[/embed] If Erdoğan speaks any longer, it (the USD) will go above 6.40 [embed]https://twitter.com/HalukKalafat/status/1027964506645966849[/embed] This thread is fantastic.  [embed]https://twitter.com/HalukKalafat/status/1028640598616666114[/embed] The country is going under but they’re spending resources to find the qibla.