Defendants: Necla Demir

Media Outlet and Position: Gazete Karınca – Publisher

Accusations: Insulting the president

Possible sentence: –

Court: Bakırköy 8. Criminal Court, İstanbul

Case background:

Necla Demir, a former publisher for newssite Gazete Karınca, is accused of “insulting the president” over news articles published in 2019 in Gazete Karınca.

An investigation was initially launched against Demir following an anonymous complaint to the Presidency’s Communication Center (CIMER) which alleged “incitement to hatred and animosity” and “insulting the president”.

The trial opened against Demir on the charges of “insulting the president” based on a police report citing several news stories published in Gazete Karınca. In the report prepared by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, “From Wikileaks documents: Erdogan is dragging the country into civil conflict”, “RedHack members spoke: Why did they hack Albayrak?” articles were the subject of the accusation. The first hearing in this case was planned to take place on May 13.

Due to suspension of all judicial proceedings from late March until June 15 because of COVID-19 pandemic, the May 13 hearing was postponed to October 8, 2020.