Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has filed a libel suit against opposition lawmaker Ahmet Şık, citing his reference to AKP as “a criminal organization,” BirGün newspaper reported on Thursday.
Şık, a lawmaker with the left-wing Turkey Workers’ Party (TİP), “violated the rights” of the AKP and sought to “damage the party’s reputation,” when he said that the AKP would be shut down and its lawmakers face trial should the current government lose the next elections, BirGün cited the petition as saying.
“The AKP will not be seen as a political party” and “will be shut down for being a crime organization,” Şık said during an interview on news platform Medyascope TV earlier this week. “We are talking about a structure, whose members will stand trial over being a crime organization.’’
The AKP, led by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is seeking 100,000 liras (approximately $5,492) in compensation over Şık’s comments, BirGün said.
Şık’s comments do not fall under freedom of expression, according to the petition.
This is not Şık’s first run-in with the ruling AKP. The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office in June 2021 launched an investigation into Şık over his televised statements against the AKP, in which he questioned the patriotism of Turkey’s ruling alliance and accused the Turkish state of being murderous.
On Dec. 29, 2016, Şık was taken into police custody as part of an investigation launched by the Istanbul Public Prosecutor’s Office. He was released on March 9, 2018, after spending more than 400 days in pre-trial detention in Istanbul’s Silivri Prison on charges of conducing propaganda for a terrorist organisation, insulting the Turkish Republic, its judiciary, military and security forces.
Pertaining to the pre-trial detention of the journalist, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that Turkey violated the freedom of expression and the right to freedom and security of Şık.
Ahval