How Do I File a Defamation Lawsuit

Disclosure of the Case of Defamation and the element of “Insult” is provided in Article 125-131 of the Turkish Criminal Code No. 5237.it is Deciphered among its substances.

Firstly, if necessary to make the determination of whether the insult occurred, according to the law, the presence of an insult in the following cases is possible to talk about a person’s dignity, honour and dignity will be able to offend and harm that can also attributed to the presence of a concrete action or phenomenon of nature in the same way or by calling a person’s dignity, honour and reputation are the items that give rise to the presence of an insult attacking.

To give a few examples of the insulting situation;

It is obvious to a person that “dishonorable”, “dishonorable”, “retarded”, “stupid”, “animal”, “manuscript”, etc. saying such words constitutes a crime of defamation.

It is an insult to say “lame man of Allah” to someone who walks without a trace, and to say “blind man” to someone who does not see the eye.

When a person is told, “you stole my things,” if this fact is proven, no offense to defamation will occur. But, to a person who has a criminal record for a previous theft offense, saying “you are a thief” gives rise to the offense of defamation.

The offense of defamation should not only be committed by word, but also the verb in the nature of the offense of defamation can be committed by writing, shape, image, hand sign or facial expressions. For example, putting human feces on a person’s work desk is a crime of defamation.

The right to petition and criticism, the right of the press to publish news, the words and actions said and done within the scope of the immunity of claim and defense do not constitute a crime of defamation.

Punishment for the Offense of Defamation

The punishment for insulting a person is established by law. This punishment is 125/1 of the Turkish Criminal Code.according to its article, it is given in the form of imprisonment from 3 months to 2 years or a fine appropriate for this period.

Defamation Crimes Committed Against Public Officials: As an exception, in cases where an insult is committed against an officer and within the framework of this officer’s duty, this punishment starts with a minimum of 1 year.

Along with other reasons that increase the penalty in defamation cases (qualified cases), other exceptions applied in defamation cases can be listed as follows:

The penalty for insulting crimes committed for explaining, changing, spreading religious, political, social, philosophical beliefs, thoughts and convictions, acting in accordance with the orders and prohibitions of the religion to which he belongs, and for insulting crimes committed through values considered sacred according to the religion to which the person belongs, starts from 1 year.

In cases where it is established that the insult was committed openly publicly, the penalty is increased by 1/6.

If the offense of defamation that is the subject of the lawsuit was committed in response to a wrongful act, it may be decided to reduce the punishment to 1/3. In addition, Article 129 of the Turkish Criminal Code.in the cases written in the article, it is stipulated that the complainant defendant shall not take any offense. For example, if a person commits an offense of insult in response to a crime of intentional wounding, no punishment is provided for this offense of insult.

In the offense of insulting the victim’s face, it is sufficient that the victim learns about the insulting words or behavior at that moment. Phone, mail, letter, sms, etc. to the victim. an insult made using such communication methods is also considered to be made directly against the victim’s face. It is enough for the victim to find out about the insult made to him by these means of communication for the offense of defamation to occur.

In the absence of the victim, the offense of defamation may occur when at least 3 people find out the words and behavior of the abuser. In the absence of a victim in the insulting environment, that is, in absentia, the law requires that the act that constitutes an insult be committed in conflict with 3 people. The person who insulted the three people in question is not included himself. It is not necessary that three people are in the same place, the main thing is that three people find out about the insult. For example, the offense of defamation takes place when other neighbors sitting in their own homes hear the words of a person shouting at the victim in absentia, “that man is a bastard, a scoundrel,” in a garden cavity.

Punishment in Case of Mutual Insult: In the same way, if the offense of insult was committed by both parties mutually, it was stipulated that no offense was given in this case or the offense given would be reduced by 1/3.

Application for a Defamation Case

In order for defamation cases to be processed, it is necessary to file a complaint with the Public Prosecutor’s Office within 6 months after the defamation takes place by writing a petition or testifying in law enforcement.However, qualified cases of defamation are not subject to complaint. Therefore, there is no complaint period limitation. In case of committing qualified cases of the crime, the public prosecutor’s office officially opens an investigation. The sample petition text is available on our website.

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