Qualified States Of The Crime Of Defamation And Punishment
QUALITATIVE FORMS OF THE OFFENSE OF INSULT
Against a public official for breach of duty,
Any person can be the victim of the crime of insult, but the fact that public officials are insulted because of their duties is an aggravating reason for the punishment of the crime. For this, it is not enough for the offense of defamation to be directed against a public official, it must be committed due to the public duty performed by the public official.
Explaining, changing, trying to spread his/her religious, political, social, philosophical beliefs, thoughts and convictions, acting in accordance with the orders and prohibitions of the religion he/she belongs to,
By referring to values that are considered sacred according to the religion to which the person belongs,
Publicly committing defamation
In general, it is necessary to accept that publicity is realized if the act is said in an environment where it can be seen and heard by anyone.
PUNISHMENT FOR INSULT CRIME
Different penalties are prescribed for the simple and qualified forms of the crime. For this reason, we will separately indicate the penalty amounts corresponding to the simple and qualified cases.
Simple Insult
The crime of simple insult is regulated in Article 125- (1) and (2) of the TPC. “A person who imputes a concrete act or fact that may offend the honor, dignity and reputation of a person (…) or attacks the honor, dignity and reputation of a person by swearing shall be sentenced to imprisonment from three months to two years or to a judicial fine. In order to be punished for insulting the victim in absentia, the act must be committed in the presence of at least three people. If the act is committed through an audio, written or video message addressed to the victim, the penalty specified in the paragraph above shall be imposed.” In the case of the simple form of the offense in question, the defendant shall be sentenced to imprisonment from three months to two years or a judicial fine.
In the case of the simple form of the crime; the judge will impose either a prison sentence or a judicial fine.
Qualified Insult Crime
Offense of insult
Against a public official for breach of duty,
Explaining, changing, trying to spread his/her religious, political, social, philosophical beliefs, thoughts and convictions, acting in accordance with the orders and prohibitions of the religion he/she belongs to,
If the offense is committed by mentioning the values considered sacred according to the religion to which the person belongs, the lower limit of the penalty cannot be less than one year.
The lower limit of the penalty may not be less than one year if the offense of insult is committed with the qualified circumstances mentioned above. The fact that the victim is a public official and the insult is committed because of his/her duty, insulting the sacred values of the religion to which the person belongs or the exercise of freedom of religion is accepted as a qualified form of the crime of insult.
Another situation that increases the penalty is when the insult is committed publicly. If the insult is committed publicly, the penalty is increased by one-sixth. In general, it is necessary to accept that publicity is realized if the act is said in an environment where it can be seen and heard by anyone. In this case, an indefinite number of people can easily learn about the defamation.
Today, it is necessary to accept that publicity is also realized in acts of insult committed through social media tools such as twitter, instagram and facebook, which are carried out over the internet
