Erdoğan sues jailed journalist Sedef Kabaş for 250,000 liras in compensation

President Erdoğan has filed a lawsuit against journalist Sedef Kabaş, demanding to be paid 250,000 liras in compensation for non-pecuniary damages. Kabaş was jailed in January on charges of "insulting" Erdoğan for expressing a palace-related proverb on television channel TELE1.

Wednesday February 09 2022 01:50 pm

This collage photo shows Erdoğan (L) and journalist Sedef Kabaş.

Duvar English

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Feb. 8 filed a lawsuit against jailed journalist Sedef Kabaş and Fırat Sakar, the chairman of the board of directors of television channel TELE1.

Erdoğan is demanding to be paid 250,000 liras in compensation for non-pecuniary damages.

Kabaş was jailed pending trial on Jan. 22 on charges of "insulting" Erdoğan. The alleged insult was in the form of a palace-related proverb that Kabaş expressed both on TELE1 and on her Twitter account.

“An ox might find his way into the palace but it doesn’t make him a king. It does, however, turn the palace into a barn,” Kabataş said on live TV and later in a tweet.

The petition submitted by the President's lawyers to the Istanbul court argued that Kabaş “made an extremely severe insult, attack and slander against the honor, dignity and honor of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan with the intention of attacking his personality rights."

"Fırat Sakar is legally liable in accordance with Article 13 of the Press Law," the petition read.

In her defense, Kabaş previously denied the charges and said that her remarks constituted as a proverb.