Journalist Ali Çağatay was acquitted of all charges against him

IBB Culture Inc. The trial of journalist Ali Çağatay, who was arrested for his "moles in the police" post regarding the kidnapping of Deputy General Manager Erhan Karaal, continued at the Istanbul 5th Criminal Court of First Instance.

Çağatay, who was detained for about 3 months, was released at the first hearing by applying a judicial control measure in the form of a travel ban.

Appearing before the judge for the second time, Çağatay stated that there may be some journalists who give false information, but this cannot be attributed to all members of the profession. "Generalizations are very dangerous. If you make generalizations, you can put all journalists in prison," said Çağatay, adding that he has been a journalist for 35 years and took part in the establishment of many channels.

Explaining with examples that some of the news and statements he made in the past were later confirmed, Çağatay said that he believed that the post in question would also be confirmed in the future.

Arguing that there was no finding in the indictment that the news was a complete lie, Çağatay claimed that the statements used by the prosecutor's office did not exclude the possibility that the news could be true. Çağatay stated that the elements of the crime were not met and requested his acquittal.

Çağatay's lawyer Turgut Kazan also requested acquittal, stating that it was not revealed that the news was false and that the elements of the crime were not formed.

PROSECUTOR ASKED FOR PUNISHMENT

Explaining his opinion on the merits, the hearing prosecutor claimed that Çağatay's post exceeded the limits of freedom of expression and the right to inform.

The prosecutor demanded that Çağatay be punished for "publicly disseminating information that misleads the public" and "publicly insulting the state's military or security forces."

Acquitted of BOTH CHARGES

The court acquitted Çağatay on the charge of "publicly disseminating misleading information to the public", ruling that his post was not capable of disturbing public peace and that there was no unrest or incident in the society as a result of the post.

Regarding the charge of "publicly insulting the military or police force of the state", the court decided that the post did not constitute an insult to the entire Police Department and that the aim was to hold a group within the Police responsible, and acquitted Çağatay of this crime.