- LeMan cartoonist Doğan Pehlevan is on trial on charges of "insulting the president," and the prosecutor requested that he be sentenced. The court adjourned the hearing until Oct. 6, while maintaining the travel ban preventing him from leaving the country.
- Pehlevan's lawyer reiterated that his client does not have a social media account and requested additional time to review the expert report submitted to the case file. The court granted the defense additional time but declined to lift the travel ban.
The fourth hearing in the trial of LeMan magazine cartoonist Doğan Pehlevan, who is charged with "insulting the president" over posts made from a social media account alleged to belong to him, was held at Istanbul's 36th Criminal Court of First Instance. In his final opinion on the merits, the prosecutor requested that Pehlevan be convicted. The court ordered that the travel ban preventing him from leaving the country remain in place and adjourned the hearing until 11:20 a.m. on Oct. 6.
Pehlevan did not attend the hearing, but his lawyers were present.
Pehlevan's lawyer, Samet Fidan, recalled that his client had previously stated that he did not have any social media accounts, adding that a source investigation report submitted to the case file concluded that the account belonged to Pehlevan.
"We will examine the source investigation report submitted by the Cyber Crimes Department. After reviewing it, we will present our defense statement in response to the prosecutor's opinion on the merits," Fidan said.
Fidan also requested that the travel ban imposed on his client be lifted.
The prosecutor argued that the offense had been established based on the reports added to the case file. He requested that Pehlevan be convicted of "insulting the president" and that the judicial control measures already imposed remain in effect.
The court ruled that the travel ban would remain in place. It granted Pehlevan and his lawyers additional time to prepare their defense statements in response to the prosecutor's opinion on the merits and adjourned the hearing until 11:20 a.m. on Oct. 6.
