Turkish court fines actress Farah Zeynep Abdullah for ‘insulting’ former sergeant convicted of rape

A Turkish court has fined actress Farah Zeynep Abdullah to pay 1,300 liras in a case concerning her tweet about former sergeant Musa Orhan who sexually assaulted a young Kurdish woman and caused her death. Last year, actress Ezgi Mola had similarly received an administrative fine over the same charges.

This collage photo shows Musa Orhan convicted of rape (L) and actress Farah Zeynep Abdullah.

Duvar English

A Turkish court has imposed an administrative fine of 1,300 liras on actress Farah Zeynep Abdullah on charges of “insulting” former sergeant Musa Orhan who was convicted of sexually assaulting a young Kurdish woman and causing her death, Demirören news agency reported.

The case concerns Abdullah’s tweet in support of another actress Ezgi Mola. Last year, a court found Mola guilty of “insulting” Orhan on social media. Several messages of support poured in for Mola afterwards, one of which belonged to Abdullah.

Orhan’s lawyer took Abdullah’s tweet to court, arguing that the renowned actress had insulted his client. In her testimony to the prosecutor’s office, Abdullah said that her tweet was "not any different from the reaction of those shown by other conscientious people.” Yet, the prosecutors continued with the investigation.

In the final hearing of the case on March 9, the court ordered Abdullah to pay 1,300 liras to Orhan on accusations of “insulting” him.  

In December 2021, Orhan was sentenced to 10 years in prison for sexually assaulting 18-year-old Kurdish woman İpek Er and causing her to commit suicide. He was however not jailed during the trial process, which caused a public uproar at the time.