The Constitutional Court (AYM) decided that the imprisonment sentence issued against Oğuz Demirkaya in 2014 over commenting under an online news article was a violation of freedom of expression. The high court stated that the imprisonment sentence issued against Demirkaya was “disproportionate” and issued 13,500 Turkish Liras of moral compensation to be paid to Demirkaya, and for the file to be sent to Sivas 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance for re-prosecution and for the consequences of the violation to be eliminated. Demirkaya was a departmental manager at Sivas Cumhuriyet University and had commented on the news of Egemen Daily by forming a relation between the news and the surname of the university rector’s communication advisor. During the prosecution, Demirkaya had indicated that he was sharing humorous content under the online news in order to draw readers’ attention to the news content. However, he had been sentenced to 1 year, 2 months and 17 days of imprisonment and had been banned from public service for life.
12.08.2021
bianet.org