Turkish Journalist Acquitted Of Resisting Officer And Defamation Charges

- A Turkish journalist and anchorwoman has been acquitted of charges of “resisting an officer” and “defamation” after an investigation into her tweets criticizing one of the country’s corruption probe judges.

An Istanbul court acquitted Sedef Kabaş of all charges on the grounds her attitude towards the police officers who came to search her house did not constitute a crime, after an investigation was opened into her “defamation” and “resistance” following her tweets criticizing Hadi Salihoğlu, an Istanbul Public Prosecutor who dropped the country’s largest corruption probe on Dec. 16, 2014.

In her hearing, Kabaş defended she did not intentionally mean the police officers were being partial when she saw one of them wore an Ottoman ring, but rather claimed she was worried when she saw unknown men at her door. Meanwhile, the police officers said Kabaş did not defame or threaten them during the search and did not file a complaint.

Kabaş also said she did not believe she had committed an offense, vowing she would continue posting tweets within the context of press freedom.

“Do not forget the name of the judge who decided not to continue proceedings in the Dec. 17 [2013] probe” Kabaş had tweeted, referring to Salihoğlu, who dropped the country’s largest corruption probe on Dec. 16, 2014.

An indictment was then prepared for Kabaş on charges of “targeting people involved in the fight against terrorism and making threats.”

An Istanbul court had sent the case to the High Criminal Court after deciding non-jurisdiction April 30 at the first hearing.

Kabaş was detained on Dec. 30, 2014, at her house and released after testifying before a prosecutor.

“I believe in the rule of law. I believe there are still people who have faith in rule of law” she had said.

(Photo)