The investigation opened against Prof. Dr. Baskın Oran due to “making terrorist organization propaganda” and “public incitement towards resentment and hostility” following the complaint of Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu with heavy accusations based on an article of Oran, was concluded with non-prosecution. Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office decree mentioned provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the Constitution on press freedom, as well as precedents of the Court of Cassation and the European Court of Human Rights, indicating that the article of Oran remains within the limits of press freedom.
Soylu posted a Tweet on the article of Oran, entitled, “Some tragicomic experiments on Kurds,” published on Agos Daily on June 23, 2017. “I am making a criminal complaint against Baskın Oran, a slave who marketed himself as a scientist, yet sneakily plotted each word of his article,” wrote Soylu on Twitter.
The Prosecutor’s Office indicated that freedom is the primary requirement in rights and freedoms and the restriction of such freedoms is exceptional. “Restriction of rights and freedoms must not be made ordinary and regular. Otherwise, what is a primary requirement becomes exceptional and what is exceptional becomes the primary requirement and this situation leads to the vanishment of press freedom,” the Prosecutor’s Office stated.
16.04.2019
diken.com.tr