Constitutional Court (AYM) issued a right violation on freedom of expression in the case of the citizen who faced both a lawsuit of compensation and a criminal lawsuit due to reacting against former Ankara Mayor Melih Gökçek’s statements on abortion.
A woman had reacted to the ‘abortion’ statement made by President Erdoğan in 2013, and Melih Gökçek had messaged the woman on Twitter, saying, “Have you had so many abortions? Is that why you’re shouting this much?” A social media campaign has started against Gökçek then, with the hashtag, “youareanimpudentmelihgokcek (edepsizsinmelihgokcek).” Eyüp Hanoğlu has then supported the campaign with the message, “Alright, Melih Gökçek is an impudent. More than half of Ankara is already a witness to that, is that not enough?” Later, Hanoğlu has been taken into custody following Gökçek’s criminal complaint. A criminal lawsuit has been filed against Hanoğlu at Ankara 24th Civil Court of First Instance with a demand of imprisonment up to two years; Hanoğlu was then sentenced to 350 TL compensation.
The Constitutional Court decided that the penalty of compensation is a violation of freedom of expression, issuing 4000 TL of compensation to be paid to Hanoğlu.
08.06.2018
cumhuriyet.com.tr