Prosecutor seeks acquittal of former bianet editor-in-chief in 'libel' case

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The second hearing of the case against Nazan Özcan, former editor-in-chief of bianet, was held today (March 22) at the İstanbul 34th Penal Court of First Instance.

A former lawyer for President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Mustafa Doğan İnal, had filed the case for "libel" and "defamation" because of an article published on bianet.

Özcan and her attorney Meriç Eyüboğlu did not attend the hearing, citing excuses. İnal's lawyer demanded Özcan be sentenced in accordance with the indictment.

The judge gave a five-minute break for the prosecutor to prepare their opinion as to the accusations. Submitting their opinion after the break, the prosecutor underlined freedom of expression and freedom of the press.

The news article in question had not been written by Özcan and did not contain "libel" and "defamation," the prosecutor argued, demanding Özcan's acquittal.

The court decided to give time to İnal's attorney to prepare a statement against the prosecutor's opinion and adjourned the hearing until April 25 at 9.55 a.m.

What happened?

The article in question was about a lawsuit against Doğan Ergün, the former Editor-in-Chief of İleri Haber news website, and İzel Sezer, the then Managing Director and the current Editor-in-Chief of İleri Haber who have been facing up to 11 years, 4 months in prison.

The reason for the lawsuit against the two journalists is the news reports regarding the tweets of an opposition MP making allegations of bargaining for bribes about Mustafa Doğan İnal, the former lawyer of the President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Mustafa Doğan İnal, claiming that the allegations in the article do not reflect the truth, filed a criminal complaint against the journalists.
The indictment against the journalists has argued that the journalists committed the repeated offenses of "publicly insulting", "unlawful disclosure of data obtained by recording non-public conversations in the press" and "libel".

After İnal's complaint, an investigation was launched against Ergün and Sezer by the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office. (HA/VK)