Journalist Faruk Arhan Handed Prison Sentence for Insulting President

Photo: Facebook

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Journalist Faruk Arhan has been sentenced to 1 year and 2 months and 17 days in prison for "insulting the President" over a tweet where he used the word "belly dancer" (dansöz).

Though he previously stood trial and acquitted, he has been given a sentence upon Turkish Penal Code (TCK) Article 299 at an appeal hearing at İstanbul Regional Court of Justice 3rd Penal Chamber. The court deferred the announcement of the verdict.

In the first appeal hearing on January 22, the prosecutor demanded the rejection of the request of appeal.

"We will appeal the decision. Freedom of expression is so vital and valuable that it cannot be left to one person's desire. We will not give up. Justice will eventually prevail," he said in a tweet after the verdict.

Erol Önderoğlu, the representative of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in Turkey, also reacted to the decision saying that "As long as TCK 299 remains in effect, it will preserve its irrelevance as a tool of pressure".

Turkish Penal Code Article 299

(1) Any person who insults the President of the Republic shall be sentenced to a penalty of imprisonment for a term of one to four years.

(2) Where the offense is committed in public, the sentence to be imposed shall be increased by one-sixth.

(3) The initiation of a prosecution for such offense shall be subject to the permission of the Minister of Justice.

(HA/VK)