Büşra Genel
An Ankara court on Tuesday dismissed a case against journalist Furkan Karabay and Faruk Eren, the then managing editor of the news outlet Gerçek Gündem, who had been charged with “insulting a public official” over a news report published four years ago and cited as evidence following a complaint by Constitutional Court member İrfan Fidan.
The ruling was issued at the final hearing of the case before the 54th Criminal Court of First Instance in Ankara, Turkey’s capital. The court said the statutory period for filing a case under Turkey’s Press Law had expired and ordered the proceedings dropped. It added that the decision could be appealed.
Karabay and his lawyer, Özge Naz Akkaya, attended the hearing, while Tuba Güneş, lawyer for Eren, participated via SEGBİS, Turkey’s video-conferencing system used in court proceedings.
In his defense statement, Karabay said he was being prosecuted over a news report published four years ago concerning an incident documented in court files and official records.
“I reported the story based on court records. The decision is up to the court,” Karabay said.
Akkaya reminded the court that Article 26 of Turkey’s Press Law sets a four-month deadline for initiating legal proceedings related to periodical publications. She argued that the case should not have been filed because that deadline had already passed.
“In this case, which was opened following a complaint, legal proceedings were not initiated within the four-month period prescribed by the law,” Akkaya said. “At the same time, the content of the news report is based on official documents and court records. It should be evaluated within the scope of freedom of expression.”
The court accepted that the filing period specified in the Press Law had expired and dismissed the case accordingly.
