Arrested journalist Sedef Kabaş files criminal complaint against justice minister

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Journalist Sedef Kabaş, who was arrested last week for "insulting the president" because of her remarks during a live broadcast, has filed a criminal complaint against Justice Minister Abdülhamit Gül.

"When Abdülhamit Gül, who needed to remain silent even if everyone talks, spoke, Sedef Kabaş was deprived of her freedom with unfair and unlawful verdicts," Kabaş's attorney, Uğur Poyraz, wrote on Twitter yesterday (January 27).

Minister Gül wrote on Twitter on January 22 that "I curse the ugly and impudent words that target our president, who was elected by the votes of our nation. These presuming and unlawful expressions arising from jealousy and hatred will find the response they deserve in the conscience of the nation and before justice."

Hours after Gül and other senior government officials targeted her, Kabaş was detained during a midnight raid and was later remanded in custody.

CLICK - 'No one can be detained in a midnight raid unless being caught red-handed'

During a program on TELE1 TV on January 14, Kabaş said, "There is a famous saying, 'A crowned head will get wiser.' But we see that this isn't the reality. There is also a saying that is the exact opposite: 'When cattle go into a palace, they don't become the king; the palace becomes a barn'."

Lawyer Poyraz appealed against her arrest, alleging that Minister Gül's tweet violated the Constitution and the European Convention on Human rights (ECHR). The appeal was rejected.

Kabaş is currently kept at the Bakırköy Women's Prison in İstanbul. (HA/VK)