Tekin Files Criminal Complaint Over Report on Paid Extras, Accuses Journalists of Disinformation
Rastî - Gürsel Tekin, appointed trustee to the CHP Istanbul Provincial Chairmanship, has taken legal action against a BirGün report revealing that paid extras were brought in for the party's badge ceremony.
RastinewsGürsel Tekin, appointed trustee to the Republican People's Party (CHP) Istanbul Provincial Chairmanship, has gone to court over a report by BirGün reporter Ebru Çelik exposing that paid extras were bussed in for the party's badge ceremony. Tekin filed a criminal complaint with the prosecutor's office targeting Çelik and other media workers.
The BirGün report documented that hundreds of extras from casting agencies, paid a daily fee of 950 lira, were brought in for the membership ceremony attended by Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who was installed as party leader by court order. After the story broke, the trustee administration filed an application with the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office through the National Judiciary Informatics System (UYAP).
Who Is Targeted?
According to the UYAP filing, BirGün reporter Ebru Çelik, who wrote the story, along with web broadcast coordinators Uğur Koç and Berkant Gültekin, were named as "suspects." The complaint also sought an investigation into a Sözcü TV reporter and company representative Nedim Bayhan.
'Right to Reply' Claim and Penal Code Charges
In the complaint, the trustee administration argued that the reports were "untrue, false and slanderous." It claimed the CHP had never worked with casting agencies for any of its events, and that party officials had not been consulted or given a right to reply before publication.
The complaint invoked provisions of the Turkish Penal Code that critics say are used to suppress press and speech freedoms. It called for an investigation of the journalists under Article 125 ("insult"), Article 217/A - popularly known as the "disinformation law" - covering "publicly disseminating misleading information," and Article 267 ("slander").