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Last update: 14-Apr-2020 11:03 |
14 January 2020: T24 columnist Mehmet Y. Yılmaz appeared before the Anadolu 37th Criminal Court of First Instance on 14 January 2020 for the first hearing of a trial where he is accused of “insulting a public official” over a series of articles in which he inquired about the rise in former Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım and his sons’ wealth. Binali Yıldırım’s lawyer Muhammed Gök addressed the court, claiming that Mehmet Y. Yılmaz “attempted to manipulate public opinion about Binali Yıldırım’s income” in his articles and asked the court to grant the plaintiff intervening party status. The court granted Mehmet Y. Yılmaz exemption from attending hearings, agreed to grant Yıldırım’s lawyer intervening party status and adjourned the trial until 9 April 2020. 27 September 2019: T24 columnist Mehmet Y. Yılmaz will stand trial on the charge of “insulting a state official” over four of his articles in which he inquired about the rise in former Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım and his sons’ wealth. The indictment, drafted upon a complaint by Yıldırım, was recently accepted by Istanbul’s Anadolu 37th Criminal Court of First Instance. Yılmaz faces up to 4 years and 1 month in prison over his four articles, claimed by the prosecutor to constitute the offense of “insulting a state official via the press.” Access to one of the articles for which Yılmaz is accused was banned by the Istanbul Anadolu 4th Criminal Judgeship of Peace. The first hearing of Yılmaz’s trial is scheduled for 14 January 2020.
Former Hurriyet columnist says Erdogan forced boss to fire himJournalist Mehmet Y. Yılmaz has said he was fired from Hurriyet newspaper after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan put pressure on Aydin Dogan, the owner of the daily back in the time, to fire him in Sept 2017. Stating that he was able to speak his mind in his columns until September, last year, Yilmaz added that editorial corrections have grown bigger since then. “I wrote about the discussions on the Chief of General Staff’s wife’s covering her head during a reception on Aug 30. Following this column, Tayyip Erdogan phoned to Aydin Dogan,” Yilmaz toldT24 on Wednesday. Yılmaz confirmed that Erdogan had requested his dismissal during the phone conversation. “Aydin Dogan was upset about the conversation. I offered to stop writing ‘for some time.’ …When I asked if I should resume writing [later on], editor in chief Fikret Bilal said ‘not now’,” Yilmaz said. Hurriyet and its parent company Dogan media were purchased by pro-government Demiroren Group in April, this year. |