The case filed by the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office against the President of the Press Workers Union (Basin-Sen), journalist Ali Kişmir, for alleged defamation, was postponed for the third time. The case will be discussed on December 28, Yeniduzen reports.
Ali Kişmir who is on trial with a request for up to 10 years in prison for an article he wrote in 2020, was released on bail of 30,000 TL on 6 October and his case was postponed until October 27 . This was in order for witnesses to be heard and a decision made regarding at which court he should tried.
Making a statement after the case, President of the Bar Association Hasan Esendağlı said, “The witnesses will be heard at the Nicosia District Court and a decision will be made whether they will be transferred to the High Criminal Court.”
Kişmir’s lawyer, Hasan Esendağlı, said that the column in question had nothing to do with the Security Forces Command and that it was a political article. He stated that he had requested a new meeting with the Prosecutor’s Office and the judge gave one month for the meeting to be set up.
Speaking outside the court, Esendağlı stated that the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office will clarify its opinion on whether to continue the case at the hearing on December 28. “We will see this through together. We will be together again on New Year’s Eve“, if the prosecutor decides that no crime was committed on 28 December, he said.
Alleged Crime
A lawsuit was filed against journalist Ali Kişmir, alleging that he “wrote an article targeting the Security Forces Command (GKK) and insulted and ridiculed the moral personality of the institution“, demanding up to 10 years in prison.
He alleged that Turkish officials had gathered in a security forces building to meddle in the elections.
In the summons of the case in question, it is stated that Kişmir “likened GKK to the General House” and that the case was subsequently filed.
In the letter subject to the lawsuit filed by the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, Kişmir wrote that UBP deputies, who were stated to be “resentful” of Ersin Tatar in the 2020 Presidential elections, were called to the White House and were indoctrinated.
Kişmir is well known for his writings critical of Ankara-backed President Ersin Tatar, and he has often been targeted by the territory’s authorities.
