Case against reporter for violating probe dropped

ANKARA

The 4th Penal Chamber Division of the Supreme Court of Appeals has unanimously decided to reverse a judgment that had found a journalist guilty of violating the confidentiality of an investigation.

“For the action to be regarded as a crime in terms of the journalism profession, it must be identified that it went beyond the scope of the right to inform,” the court ruled, Anadolu Agency reported.

Istanbul’s 25th Court of First Instance had previously ruled that the journalist had violated the confidentiality of an investigation on a case known as “Sauna Gang.”

The latest court decision was based on an article of the Penal Code (TCK), stating that the confidentiality did not include preventing the public from being informed about the crime or the trial. It said that confidentiality applied only to those aspects of investigations that must remain secretive legally.