Turkish court blocks access to reporting based on petition dated four months ago of publication

A Turkish court has blocked access to the daily BirGün’s reporting dated Nov. 16 regarding sexual harassment allegations of a deputy governor based on a petition dated July 26.

Saturday December 02 2023 12:23 am

Duvar English

The Sakarya 2nd Criminal Court of Peace has blocked access to a daily BirGün reporting with a petition dated four months ago of the publication, BirGün reported on Dec. 1.

Accordingly, the daily BirGün first on Oct. 14 reported sexual harassment allegations of Kırşehir Deputy Governor Alper Balcı.

Upon the application of Balcı, the court blocked access to this reporting titled “Harassment case against deputy governor” on the grounds that “Balcı's face and name were clearly included in the report, thus causing a violation of his personal rights.”

The BirGün on Nov. 16 reported this access ban with the title of “Deputy Governor, who is tried for harassment, had the reportings about him blocked from access.”

Balcı’s lawyer Ensar Turhan once again applied to the court for an access ban, but presented a petition dated July 26.

Referring to the petition, the court decided to block access to the reporting of BirGün and 32 more news outlets, stating that “Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office ruled that there was no need for prosecution against Deputy Governor Balcı, and thus the news contents published were in a way that harmed the personal rights of the applicant.”

On the other hand, the file has not been closed as noted in the court’s ruling, and Balcı is still on trial.