Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) convened extraordinarily today and sentenced TELE 1 for the words cited as the reason for the arrest of journalist Sedef Kabaş, and FOX TV for the main news bulletin presented by Selçuk Tepeli.
After Sedef Kabaş’s arrest on the charge of “insulting the President”, RTÜK decided to suspend the program 5 times and impose an administrative fine of 5 percent above the upper limit on TELE1 for “inciting the public to hatred and enmity”. In case of repetitions of the same violation, the license of the channel may be revoked.
TELE 1 received an administrative fine of 3 percent by majority vote for Uğur Dündar’s remarks. In accordance with the RTÜK decision, the Democracy Arena program broadcast on TELE 1 will be stopped 5 times. During this period, Uğur Dündar will not be able to broadcast on any channel.
RTÜK also decided to impose an administrative fine on the channel at the upper limit, on the grounds that FOX News presenter Selçuk Tepeli emphasized his personal opinions by doing “intense news reporting” instead of “information-intensive”.
RTÜK member İlhan Taşçı: An attempt to intimidate those who think differently and criticism
BBC TurkishSpeaking to RTÜK member İlhan Taşçı, he pointed out that the punishment given to TELE1 is the heaviest punishment that can be given to a program or a channel.
Taşçı, who was elected to the Supreme Council from the CHP quota, said that the Democracy Arena program will not be held for more than 1 month, which means that the program will be blacked out:
Taşçı said, “It is requested that those who do not think like the government or the Palace do not express their thoughts,” and continued as follows:
“Through the program and the channel, everyone who differs with the government and does not agree is trying to be told that there is no freedom of expression. This is an attempt to intimidate those who think differently and criticize.”
İlhan Taşçı said that RTÜK has always been affected by the political climate, but “it has not been seen that it has acted so much with instructions and orders”.
Reminding that the duties of the Supreme Council are to eliminate the possible problems of TV broadcasting and to ensure broadcasting in a free environment, Taşçı said, “RTÜK has become an obstacle to the freedom of the press.”
https://twitter.com/ilhantasci/status/1485551583421210625
of Kabaş a**his deed objected to the arrest warrant**
Sedef Kabaş’s lawyer, Uğur Poyraz, also announced on Twitter that he objected to the arrest warrant for his client today.
https://twitter.com/av_ugurpoyraz/status/1485564014231015425?s=20
Kabaş’s detention and RTÜK’s sentence were met with reactions in Turkey and abroad.
In the statement of the International Writers’ Union PEN International, “Well-known journalist Sedef Kabaş is under arrest for ‘insulting the President’. We call for his release and we call on Turkey to repeal all criminal defamation laws.
https://twitter.com/pen_int/status/1485554195419828226?s=20
The Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TBB) and the Journalists’ Union of Turkey (TGS) Women and LGBTI+ Commission also made a written statement, reacting to Kabaş’s arrest and emphasizing freedom of expression.
The Journalists’ Union of Turkey reacted to the threat of the judge who decided to arrest Sedef Kabaş for her news that the Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK) did not meet the seniority requirement.
https://twitter.com/TGS_org_en/status/1485256303513583616?s=20
What happened?
Journalist Sedef Kabaş, in the live broadcast she participated in TELE 1, said, “There is a saying ‘A crowned head gets wiser’, but we see that it is not true. Or there is a word on the contrary, I should not say it, let me say ‘cattle’. Then he will not be a king, that palace will be a barn.”
In RTÜK’s decision, the program’s moderator Uğur Dündar said, “We write this aside… Don’t worry. We also take notes. One day, the cut will come and the handle will return, and the account will return. That’s when the account will be asked” and Merdan Yanardag’s “One day Times will change… those responsible for this totalitarian regime will be held accountable before the people and before history in the direction of the judiciary,” it was stated that they “threaten the marginalized mass”.
President of RTÜK, Ebubekir Şahin, announced on his Twitter account that an investigation was launched against Kabaş.
After the announcement, Sedef Kabaş, who was investigated for “insulting the President”, was arrested.
According to the news of DHA, Kabaş said in his statement at the court, “The original of the word is a proverb. I even changed the original of the word. As you can see from this, I do not intend to insult.”
Presidential Spokesperson İbrahim Kalın, Communications Director Fahrettin Altun and AKP Spokesperson Ömer Çelik also reacted to Kabaş.
MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli, who made a statement on his Twitter account after Kabaş’s arrest, condemned the words he described as “anti-democratic and fascistic” and said that “independent and impartial judicial process has started” with the arrest warrant.