Turkey’s top appeals court paves way for investigation into 'insulting' retweet
The Court of Cassation, Turkey's high court of appeals, has paved the way for an investigation to be launched into a citizen who retweeted an "insulting" post about someone else.
Duvar English
The Court of Cassation, Turkey's high court of appeals, has ruled that retweeting an "insulting" post about someone is sufficient evidence for an indictment to be prepared, the daily Türkiye reported on Sept. 12.
A citizen filed a criminal complaint against someone for retweeting a "defamatory post" about him/her. The retweet in question contained the following statements: “filthy, despicable, indecent, liar, smuggler, vile, disbeliever, dishonest, corrupt, dishonest.”
A local court turned down the plaintiff's demand and said that the issue could not be the subject of an investigation.
Examining the case, the Court of Cassation overturned the decision of the local court, noting that retweeting creates sufficient suspicion for an indictment to be prepared and for an investigation to be launched.
“Whether the suspect's action is guilty or not should be determined as a result of the discussion and evaluation of all the evidence together by the court. The decision not to prosecute the suspect is unlawful,” the Court of Cassation said in its decision.