MLSA - In the case against journalist Hayko Bağdat, defended by the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA), the prosecutor has demanded a penalty on charges of "insulting the president" and "insulting a public official." However, the prosecutor requested an acquittal for the charge of "inciting hatred and hostility among the public."
The 11th hearing of the case, initiated due to an article titled "My last writing about Erdoğan" published on April 14, 2017, on the website ozguruz.org, and various social media posts made by Bağdat over different years, was held today (February 21, 2024) at the Istanbul 50th Criminal Court of First Instance. The lawsuit accuses Bağdat of "insulting the president" and "openly inciting hatred and hostility among the public." Bağdat, represented by MLSA, did not attend the hearing, but his lawyer Emine Özhasar was present.
President Erdoğan's attorney, Suzan Ayça Nur Uğur, reiterated their complaints and requested that Bağdat be punished according to the indictment.
The prosecutor, after reviewing the case file for approximately 20 minutes during the hearing, presented their opinion on the merits. The prosecutor claimed that Bağdat committed the crimes of "insulting the president" and "insulting a public official" through his 2017 article on ozguruz.org and social media posts from 2014, 2018, and 2019. However, the prosecutor requested an acquittal for the charge of "inciting hatred and hostility among the public" on the grounds that the legal elements of the crime were not constituted in the expressions used in social media posts from various years.
Lawyer Emine Özhasar requested additional time to prepare a defense against the prosecutor's opinion on the merits. The court accepted the request for additional time and adjourned the hearing to July 10, 2024.
