Journalist Sedef Kabaş released after trial

ISTANBUL

Journalist Sedef Kabaş has been released after being sentenced to two years and four months in prison for “insulting the president.”

Kabaş was detained and later arrested over her remarks about President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, which aired on private broadcaster Tele 1. She was sent to the Istanbul Bakırköy Women’s Prison on Jan. 23.

The prosecutor had demanded a jail term of eight years and two months, noting that her comments regarding Erdoğan overstepped the boundaries of criticism and those remarks were not in the public interest.

The court also acquitted Kabaş of insulting Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu and Transport and Infrastructure Ministery Adil Karaismailoğlu.

Making a statement to reporters in front of the courthouse following the hearing, Kabaş’s lawyer Uğur Poyraz said that the decision was incomplete, stressing that it is regrettable that a verdict of conviction was given, although the release was a pleasing development.