İSTANBUL - A law suit was filed against Cumhuriyet Newspaper reporter Hazal Ocak for the article she wrote on the land bought by Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak on the route of Canal İstanbul.

 

A law suit was filed against Cumhuriyet newspaper reporter Hazal Ocak, who reported that the Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak bought 13 decares of land 8 years ago on the route of Kanal Istanbul. In the first indictment drafted on 6 March 2020, the prosecutor asked for Ocak to be tried for "insult". However, the Deputy Attorney General refused this indictment and stated that an increase should be made in the penalty to be imposed by stating that "the crime of defamation was committed through press and publicly."

 

A new indictment was prepared on March 31. Up to 2 years of imprisonment was requested for Ocak in the new indictment provided that the imprisonment will not be less than 1 year.

 

The fact that Minister Albayrak bought land from the Canal Istanbul route was described in the indictment as a "shopping event in the natural process."

 

The indictment, which allegedly hurt the honor and dignity of Albayrak was accepted by the Istanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance. The first hearing will be held on 18 June.