Journalist Sentenced for Insulting President

Writer and journalist Abdurrahman Dilipak was sentenced to 1.5 years imprisonment for a commentary published in the "Anadolu'da Vakit" newspaper, found guilty on charges of “insulting the president” under penal code article 299.

Dilipak’s sentence for his article titled “Is Sezer Sick?” was first reduced to 11 months 20 days by the Bagcilar 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance before being converted to a monetary fine of 10,600 YTL (5,700 euro).

He said he would appeal the verdict.

In a separate case at the court, Dilipak was acquitted on similar charges for another article titled "May Sezer Burn Henna” with the court concluding that conditions of an offence had not been realized.

The journalists “Is Sezer Sick?” article referred to news that the President was ill and criticized him for leading an isolated life at the presidential palace in Cankaya, implying that he was under stress and coming to the point of not being able to run the country. “It looks like Sezer will not be able to stay there until the end of his term”, Dilipak said.

The case against the journalist was launched after a commentary by Hakki Devrim in the daily Radikal newspaper on July 15, 2005, calling on prosecutors to do their duty was accepted as a criminal complaint. (EO/II