Woman fined for insulting airport staffer

ISTANBUL-Anadolu Agency

A woman who was standing trial on charges of insulting a ground-service staff member of an airline company has been fined a total of 1,740 Turkish Liras ($295). The fine was split into installments of four payments.

The case concerns the defendant Fatma Funda Esenç, who was recorded on camera hurling insults at the airline company’s staff member at Istanbul Airport in April, after there was a delay in her flight from Istanbul to the resort town of Bodrum.

In the video, Esenç is heard shouting, “Think a little bit more instead of fattening your big ass! Don’t touch me! I do not touch gypsies! Street trash!” Other passengers who were also in the waiting area reprimanded Esenç for her harsh verbal abuses.

After the video went viral on social media, the relevant airline company issued a statement saying that they condemn the passenger’s behavior and make sure that the necessary legal proceedings would be launched.

Prosecutors then filed charges against Esenç for “insulting” Tuğçe Sevi and “humiliating a fraction of society explicitly based on social class, religion, sect, gender and regional differences.” A jail sentence of up to three years and four months was sought for Esenç.

Esenç later defended herself, saying: “My aunt’s husband, who was a father to me, was going to go through a surgery. I was trying to get there on time. They [airline company staff] made us wait without giving any explanation. When the complainant provoked me by turning a cold shoulder and not answering me, due to the stress that I was in, I said the statements written in the indictment.”

In the final hearing of the case on Oct. 16, the court fined Esenç 1,740 liras.

For the second charge, “humiliating a fraction of society explicitly based on social class, religion, sect, gender and regional differences,” the court acquitted Esenç.