Lawyer Feyza Altun was sentenced to 9 months in prison for “publicly denigrating religious values adopted by a certain segment of the public” in the case she was tried for a post she made on social media. Altun and her lawyers were present at the final hearing of the case held at Beykoz 5th Criminal Court of First Instance.
Prosecutor Requested 3 Years Imprisonment
At the hearing, the public prosecutor requested a departure from the lower limit on the grounds that the defendant publicly insulted Islamic law based on the verses in the Quran and the words of the Prophet Muhammad, as stated in the indictment, and asked for Altun to be sentenced to 3 years in prison.
Altun “I do not regret”
Stating in her defense that she has been a lawyer for 14 years, Altun said, “Sharia is not a protected value in Turkey. On the date of the incident, I shared a Persian poem on my social media account. Someone wrote ‘Feyza are you having a Sharia attack’ on this post. When I realized that the tweet would be misunderstood, I deleted it after 5-10 minutes. I have no regrets,” he said.
Lawyer Aslan “Sharia was criticized”
Altun’s lawyer Oğuzhan Aslan argued that his client criticized sharia in his post and that the word sharia cannot be associated with Islam. He stated that Altun did not insult a religious belief.
Court Sentenced to 9 Months in Prison
The court sentenced the defendant Feyza Altun to 9 months in prison for “publicly denigrating religious values adopted by a certain section of the public” and lifted the judicial control provisions. The judge stated that Altun showed no remorse for the crime and did not apply a reduction in the sentence.
Altun to Appeal the Decision
Making a press statement after the verdict, Altun stated that he was sentenced to 9 months in prison and that he would appeal the verdict. “Turkey is a secular state, I cannot accept Sharia rule. I don’t want such a government,” he said.
In the indictment prepared by Beykoz Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, it was claimed that an investigation was initiated due to Altun’s post on his social media account and that the suspect had incited one segment of the public with different characteristics in terms of religion to hatred and hostility against the other segment.
This decision had a huge repercussion on social media and continues to be discussed by many people. Altun’s lawyers stated that they will initiate a legal process to re-examine the investigation, which they claim was unlawfully initiated.
