Ankara, Turkey – Four students from Middle Eastern Technical University (METU) and a stationary store owner were exempted from further criminal hearings by Ankara 11th Court of First Instance. The case revolves around the display of the infamous ‘Tayyip World’ cartoon by Penguen Magazine during a METU graduation parade by three of the defendants. Ali Akyan, the presiding judge, warned journalists not to “record any footage”.
The four students (Burak Akdemir, Özge Kayaaslan, Furkan Efe Dikmen, Dilan Can Yıldırım) had spent the past month in pre-trial detention. Akdemir, Dikmen and Yıldırım plead that they were unaware that displaying the cartoon was a criminal act because charges over a similar display had been dismissed by a court in 2005.
Lawyers for Akdemir, Dikmen and Yıldırım then defended their clients on free speech grounds. Defense lawyer Faruk Çayır argued that “The cartoon is satirical. A satirical cartoon is being tried here. The clients have exercised their right to criticism. Their actions fall within the ambit of their right to free speech, which is protected under the Turkish Constitution.” Lawyers for the defense also noted that a compensation claim made by then-Prime Minister Erdoğan’s against Penguen Magazine over the same cartoon was rejected by Ankara 1st Court of First Instance, and again by the 4th Civil Chamber of the Court of Cassation.
Çayır concluded by citing the decision of the European Court of Human Rights concerning a banner with the words “Get out, idiot”, which referred to the French president. The European court had decided that the banner fell within the ambit of free speech. Çayır added that “The president has become a political figure after the 16 April referendum. Therefore my clients have exercised their right to freedom of expression.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has until recently been pursuing a complaint against the defendants for their actions. President Erdoğan’s lawyers met with the defendants five days ago and chose to drop the complaint.
Kayaaslan, the fourth student, declaimed any responsibility. “My friends brought the rolled banner to my car. I was not aware of its content.” Kayaaslan’s lawyer, former Public Prosecutor Bülent Yücetürk, remarked that “My client’s only crime is to own a car. If she did not have a car, she wouldn’t have been a defendant here today.” Kayaaslan’s second lawyer Fikret Aydın then drew attention to the fact that his client had unlawfully spent 35 days in detention. He added, “My client was unlawfully detained because she had carried the banner in her car. If it is a crime to carry the banner in the car, then the owner of Peugeot, her car’s brand, should be tried here as well.”
Şahin Dereağzı, in whose store the students printed the cartoon, plead ignorance of their actions. “The shop was overcrowded that day due to the graduation ceremony. We did not pay attention to its content whilst it was being printed. I didn’t see it printed. I was not a part of the defendants’ action.”
The court decided to exempt the defendants from further hearings, lifted the ban on overseas travel which they were subject to and asked the Ankara Public Prosecutor’s office whether executives at Penguen Magazine executives could be sued for the cartoon’s publication instead.
Updated: November 29 2018
