Far-right politician who falsely blamed deadly bombing on Kurdish lawyer faces jail sentence

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İstanbul prosecutors have indicted a member of the Victory (Zafer) Party for falsely accusing a Kurdish lawyer of perpetrating the November 13 İstanbul bombing, which killed six people and injured 81 others.

The Küçükçekmece Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has charged Adem Taşkaya with "insulting a person by means of an audio, written or video message" and "illegally obtaining and disseminating personal data," Halk TV reported today (January 5). If found guilty, Taşkaya may receive a prison sentence of up to four years.

Hours after the bombing, Taşkaya had shared a still image showing Jiyan Tosun, a Kurdish lawyer and a member of the Human rights Association (İHD), on İstiklal Avenue, where the bomb had exploded and claimed that it was her who planted the bomb.

Tosun soon proved that she was at a police station with her client at the time of the bombing. Still, she was harassed and threatened by many people on social media. Worried about her security, she spent hours at the courthouse in Küçükçekmece, where she went to file a complaint.

At a press conference the next day, Tosun said she and her relatives had also received threats by phone, questioning how so many people could obtain their number in a very short time.

"Bandwith restrictions"'

In his statement to the prosecutors, Taşkaya said he had seen "detailed information" on two Telegram groups showing that Tosun was the assailant.

As a politician, he had "felt responsibility" and shared the "information that I saw," Taşkaya said.

He further noted that he had deleted the tweet three minutes later and that it hadn't been sooner because of the internet bandwidth restrictions following the bomb attack. "I was aggrieved by false information," he said.

Taşkaya admitted having posted the tweet but said he didn't have criminal intentions.

The first hearing will take place tomorrow at 10.15 a.m. at the Küçükçekmece 20th Penal Court of First Instance. (HA/VK)