A court hearing of the lawsuit filed against President of Press-Sen, journalist Ali Kişmir, by the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office will be held on 6 October. If found guilty, Kişmir, who is being sued for allegedly insulting the Security Forces Command, could be sentenced to up to 10 imprisonment, Kibris Postasi reports.
Ali Kişmir made the following statement on social media:
“Dear friends,
“A lawsuit has been filed against me by the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office for writing an article targeting the Security Forces Command and insulting and defaming the spiritual personality of the same institution, and a prison sentence of up to 10 years has been requested.
“This lawsuit, which will go down in history as a black stain against freedom of expression and thought, will begin on 6 October 2023. In this process, the President of the Union of Bar Associations, Lawyer Hasan Esendağlı will voluntarily defend me and, in my opinion, the freedom of expression of our society and the freedom of the press.
“Anyone who reads the article I wrote without prejudice and wants to understand it can see that there is not even the slightest expression of the crime in question in the content of the article. This is a purely political case and the aim is to silence dissenting voices. The demand that those who have robbed and plundered the country, betrayed this society and openly sold our will, but those of us who have exposed those people, should be tried in the heavy penalty shows the point we want to be brought to. I leave both the complainants and the mediators alone with their conscience”.
[Ed.] Among those who have voiced their support for the journalist were CTP General Secretary Asım Akansoy and the General Secretary of El-Sen Ahmet Tuğcu
