A Turkish appeals court has upheld prison sentences for two men who livestreamed police officers while waiting for the traffic police to arrive after reporting what they said was an illegally parked luxury car belonging to a lawmaker from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party, the pro-opposition Halk TV reported.
The Bursa Regional Court of Justice confirmed earlier convictions sentencing Recep Adıgüzel and Berkant Fitoz to two years, one month in prison each for unlawfully obtaining and disseminating personal data after they livestreamed police officers at the scene. The ruling exhausts the ordinary appeals process and makes the sentences final.
The case began on August 21, 2023, in the northwestern city of Yalova when Adıgüzel saw a luxury vehicle parked in a no-parking zone on Fatih Avenue and reported it to Turkey’s emergency hotline, 112. Turkish media reported that the car belonged to Meliha Akyol, a member of parliament from the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP).
Adıgüzel and Fitoz then waited for traffic police for about 1 hour and 45 minutes while broadcasting live on social media from the location. During the livestream, Adıgüzel said a local shopkeeper had previously received a large fine at the same spot and argued that authorities should apply traffic laws equally.
“No matter who it is, the law should apply equally,” he said during the broadcast.
Traffic police did not arrive during the livestream to issue a ticket. However, police officers were present at the scene, and prosecutors later argued that the broadcast recorded and shared conversations between those officers.
A lower court convicted the two men of unlawfully obtaining and disseminating personal data and also ordered them to pay about 17,900 Turkish lira in legal costs.
