They continued by saying, “We have an obligation to the secular republic” and the court also made the decision to change a previous sentence regarding another writer charged with the same crime.
Selahattin Aydar of Milli Newspaper received a twenty-month prison sentence, with a 14 for and 13 against vote. Mehmet Şevket Eygi, who wrote for the newspaper, also received a twenty-month prison sentence after being charged with the same crime.
President of the Supreme Court Punishment Committee Osman _irin, justified in writing the recent acquittal with regards to Selahattin Aydar saying: “If secularism is not protected in the law, other strengths prevail, there are then other obligations against the laic republic.”
He explained that he would not write the justifications entirely by himself.
