HATAY - Hüseyin Gör, who was on trial for "insulting" Presidential Communication Director Fahrettin Altun, was sentenced to 8 months and 25 days in prison without trial. Protesting the decision, lawyer Mehtap Sert said, "They set up their own courts and make their own trials."
A citizen named Hüseyin Gör, who lives in he Iskenderun District of Hatay, was sentenced to 8 months and 25 days in prison by the Istanbul 16th Criminal Court of First Instance for "insulting" Presidential Communication Director Fahrettin Altun in 2020. The court deferred the announcement of the verdict.
'LIKING NEWS ON SOCIAL MEDIA IS A CRIME'
In the indictment prepared by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, it was stated that Gör had committed the crime of 'insulting a public official' by liking a post about Altun which said, 'A terror investigation will be launched against the journalist who wrote an article about Fahrettin Altun's unlicensed construction' and commenting 'Writing the news of theft is a terror crime. I guess this is democracy'. 16th Criminal Court of 1st Instance finalized the decision without even holding a trial and sentenced Gör to 8 months and 25 days in prison, deferreing the announcment of the verdict.
'HE WAS SENTENCED TO PRISON WITHOUT TRIAL'
Speaking about the sentence given to her client, Gör's attorney Mehtap Sert drew attention to the fact that the law suit was filed in İstanbul even though her client lives in İskenderun and Fahrettin Altun lives in Ankara. Attorney Sert said: "The authority of CMK 12 was ignored despite our objection. The article was shared by thousands of people and my client liked the article in social media. Even though there is no data on my client beside the fact that he liked that article, my client was sentenced to prison to the upper limit and without holding a trial. His right to a fair trial was violated. No evidence was collected in favor of the client at any stage of the proceedings. We do not accept the decision. We will appeal the decision."
MA / Hamdullah Kesen