EYLEM SONBAHAR
In the trial of Cihan Kolivar, President of the Bread Producers Union, a new charge was identified by the court nearly a year after a tweet allegedly insulted the president, yet the prosecution has not yet responded to the court’s inquiry.
The ongoing legal proceedings against Kolivar are held at the 17th Criminal Court of First Instance in Istanbul, where he faces charges of "publicly degrading a segment of the population based on social class differences (Article 216/2 of the Turkish Penal Code)," "publicly degrading the Turkish nation (Article 301/1)," and "insulting the president (Article 299)." These charges were based on statements he made during a television program and two separate social media posts.
During a previous session, the court had determined that a tweet from April 4, 2022, initially included in the indictment as an insult to the president, might also constitute a crime under Article 301. This prompted the court to seek investigation permission from the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.
At the latest hearing, which Kolivar did not attend, the judge noted that the court had yet to receive a response regarding the inquiry into Kolivar’s social media post. His attorney requested that pending matters be addressed and that the response from the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office be awaited.
The court decided to inquire again about the status of the notification to the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office and postponed the hearing to September 27, 2024, at 12:30 pm.
Background of the case
The charges against Kolivar were detailed in an indictment prepared on November 29, 2022, by prosecutor Hakan Aksoy, which cited statements made on the HaberTürk TV program "HT 360" on November 7, 2022, and four social media posts from that year. During the TV program, Kolivar controversially remarked, “You consider bread a staple food; I do not. Bread is the staple food of stupid societies. I am speaking scientifically, not from rote memory. Per capita consumption is 210 kilos; in Sweden, Norway, Japan, it's 50 kilos. Our society is satiated with bread, which is why we have had such leaders for the past 20 years.”
