SUPREME COURT OF APPEALS RATIFIES DECISION OF LOCAL COURT
ESKISEHIR - The Supreme Court of Appeals ratified the verdict rendered by a local court in the central city of Eskisehir in a lawsuit, which was filed by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan against the 'Sakarya' daily for publishing a cartoon portraying him.
The Supreme Court of Appeals ruled that there were not any 'element of crime' in the cartoon.
The newspaper published the cartoon on May 12th, 2004. Prime Minister Erdogan filed on July 4th, 2004 a lawsuit against Ustun Unugur, owner of the newspaper, and editor-in-chief Hakki Saglam for violating his individual rights and publicly humiliating him. He requested nearly 7.4 thousand USD in compensation but the Basic Civil Court in Eskisehir rejected the lawsuit.
Meanwhile, Aydin Gungor, lawyer of the newspaper, pleaded that a prime minister who (unjustly) served four-month in prison in 1999 because he read a poem, should be more tolerant.