Nalin Öztekin
Ankara — Turkish journalist Sibel Hürtaş has been acquitted of insulting a public official after referring to a police officer as a “torturer” during her court defense, in a case stemming from her violent arrest while covering a protest outside parliament in 2020.
The Ankara 55th Criminal Court of First Instance ruled that Hürtaş’s remarks fell within the scope of her legal right to defense, rejecting the charge of “insulting a public official” under Article 125/3 of the Turkish Penal Code.
Hürtaş had been detained and beaten while reporting on a protest in front of the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM) during debates over a controversial legal reform known as the “multiple bar associations law” in 2020. In a previous trial related to the incident, she was sentenced in 2023 to 8 months and 10 days in prison for “resisting a public officer” under Article 265. That sentence was later converted into a judicial fine of TL 10,000.
The new case emerged after Hürtaş, while testifying in her defense during the earlier trial, used the term “torturer” to describe the police officer who assaulted her. The officer filed a complaint with the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, which proceeded to file an indictment accusing Hürtaş of insulting a public servant.
At the first hearing of the new trial, Hürtaş appeared in court alongside her attorney, Sercan Aran. In her defense statement, Hürtaş explained that the officer in question had subjected her to physical abuse and verbally assaulted her during the arrest, saying, “Just die already, I want you to die.” She emphasized that her remarks in court were part of her right to self-defense.
Attorney Sercan Aran argued that Hürtaş had already suffered mistreatment and was now being re-victimized through further prosecution. He stressed that the term “torturer” could not be considered an insult in this context, as it accurately described the actions of the officer and was used in a legal defense.
Quoting Article 128 of the Turkish Penal Code, which protects statements made in legal proceedings, Aran stated: “Written or oral claims or defenses submitted to judicial or administrative authorities that contain concrete allegations or negative evaluations about individuals are not subject to punishment. My client’s statements fall within this protected category. I request her acquittal.”
The prosecutor concurred, noting that the term “torturer,” while coarse, did not meet the legal criteria for criminal insult and did not constitute an offense. The court agreed and issued a ruling of acquittal.
