Turkish court recognizes insult over Twitter as criminal offense

ISTANBUL – Anatolia News Agency

Model Nilay Dorsa. Hürriyet Photo

An Istanbul court has judged a Twitter user’s insult toward a Turkish model to be a criminal offense committed via press on April 12.

Model Nilay Dorsa had filed a criminal complaint against Tolga Çam who posted a tweet mentioning Dorsa with “offensive content” in November 2011.

Dorsa’s lawyer had demanded three years and two months in prison for Çam.

The court board said Çam committed revilement crime by expressing his personal thoughts over Twitter and sharing them with public, considering Twitter as a media platform for the first time in Turkey.

However the court board decided to mitigate his punishment if he did not commit another crime in three years.

Previously Dorsa had sued another Twitter user for making threats and the court board had obliged the man to pay 1,500 Turkish Lira in compensation.

“Another Twitter case of mine has ended! Even if it’s a social media venue no one can insult each other, justice is served!” Dorsa posted on her twitter account after the trial.