The proverb he wrote as a social media comment was considered as a threat, and he received a prison sentence.

The person M.Y. (36), who wrote "They will kill the rooster that crows out of time" under the journalist İ.H.H.'s social media post, was sentenced to 3 months and 22 days in prison for the crime of 'threat' in the 45th Criminal Court of Istanbul Anatolia.

İ.H.H., who lives in Istanbul, filed a complaint through his lawyer against M.Y., who wrote a comment using the proverb "They will kill the rooster that crows out of time" on his social media post. Following the investigation conducted by the Istanbul Anatolia Public Prosecutor's Office, a lawsuit was filed against M.Y. for the crime of 'threat'. In the trial held at the 45th Criminal Court of Istanbul Anatolia, the defendant M.Y. stated in his defense, "I made the post in question, but I did not write it referring to İ.H.H."

The court ruled that the defendant made a threat against İ.H.H. with the comment he made on social media and that the crime was proven. It was emphasized that the defendant's defense was aimed at escaping from the crime, and while the defendant M.Y. was initially sentenced to 6 months in prison for the crime of 'threat', this sentence was reduced to 3 months and 22 days with a discretionary reduction. The court also ruled that the defendant would be subject to supervised probation for a period of 5 years and that the sentence would not be announced if he did not commit an intentional crime within the specified period.

"THREAT TO BODILY INTEGRITY"

Taha Yasin Caner, the lawyer of the complainant İ.H.H., stated that a comment was made on the news shared by his client using the phrase "They will kill the rooster that crows out of time" and said, "We see that our client actually shared a normal news and this news does not touch anyone, does not harm anyone personally or materially or spiritually. However, sometimes our citizens cannot control themselves and can write comments like this. This comment in question is actually a proverb, and the most interesting part is this. They made this comment by saying 'They will kill the rooster that crows out of time' and by tagging our client. We perceived this as a threat to the bodily integrity of our client and filed a criminal complaint with the prosecutor's office. The court also evaluated the proverb 'They will kill the rooster that crows out of time' as a threat against our client."

"THEY SHOULD NOT USE THESE WORDS CARELESSLY, SAYING IT IS A PROVERB"

Caner warned social media users, saying, "Our citizens should pay attention to whether these proverbs carry a threat or contain insults when using proverbs. As we have seen in this judicial process, they can receive punishment for threats if they are used by saying 'It is a proverb, it will not cause any harm'. This, of course, poses a risk for our citizens. Therefore, my humble advice to our citizens is not to use these words by saying 'it is a proverb' and not caring. I recommend them to use these proverbs more carefully and diligently."