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The Undersecretariat of MIT files legal complaints to the Ministry of Justice in regard
with certain information, comments and claims on various media organs that involve
criminal elements, violating the Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code, the Article
27 of the Law 2937 and the Article 6 of the Law 3713.
Following is the related articles of the law.
1. The second paragraph of the Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code stipulates that;
“An individual who publicly despises the Government of the Republic of Turkey, the judicial
organs of the State, military or law enforcement authorities is punished with imprisonment
from six months to two years.”
2. The Article 27 of the Law 2937 stipulates that;
“An individual who attains documents or information concerning the mission and activities of the
National Intelligence Organization is punished with heavy imprisonment from two to eight years,
unless the act requires a heavier penalty.
Should the perpetration of the crime mentioned in the first paragraph become possible or just
facilitated by the fault of an individual who holds or possesses this document or information
because of his/her position although his/her official capacity or post has come to an end, the
one who holds the information is sentenced to one to five years of imprisonment.
An individual who discloses the contents of these documents and information is punished with
heavy imprisonment not less than five years, unless the act requires a heavier penalty. Should
the act takes place because of the fault of the guilty, he/she is sentenced to imprisonment from
six months to two years.
Should the crime of disclosure is committed through media organs, the penalty is increased ½ times.”
3. The Article 6 of Anti-Terror Law 3713 stipulates that;
Disclosure and Publication
Those who announce that the crimes of a terrorist organization are aimed at certain persons,
whether or not such persons are named, or who disclose or publish the identity of officials
on anti-terrorist duties, or who identify such persons as targets shall be punished with one
to three years of imprisonment. (1)
Those who print or publish leaflets and declarations of terrorist organizations shall be
punished with one to three years of imprisonment. (1)
Those who, in contravention of Article 14 of this law, disclose or publish the identity of informants shall be punished with one to three years of imprisonment. (1)
(Amended fourth paragraph: 29/6/2006-5532/5 art.) In case the abovementioned acts are committed
through media organs, the owners and chief editors of media organs that have not been involved
in the commitment of the crime shall be punished to a judicial fine of one to ten thousand days.
However, the upper limit of this fine for chief editors is five thousand days.
(Additional paragraph: 29/6/2006-5532/5 art.) In the framework of the activities of the terrorist
organization, periodicals that contain open incitement to commit a crime, praise for committed
crimes and their perpetrators, or the propaganda of the terrorist organization can be temporarily
closed for fifteen days to one month by taking necessary measures by means of a judge’s verdict
or the order of the Public Prosecutor when a delay is inconvenient. The Public Prosecutor submits
his/her decision to the judge in twenty four hours at the latest. Should the judge not approve it
in forty eight hours, the decision of closure is considered invalid.
(1) With the Article 5 of Law 5532 dated 29/6/2006, the phrase “a heavy fine of five to ten million
liras” in this article was changed as “one to three years of imprisonment” and inserted to the text.
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