What is the Crime of Slander?
What is the Crime of Slander?
In this article, I would like to discuss the crime of violation of residential immunity. This crime is regulated in the second section of the fourth part titled “Offenses Against the Administration of Justice” under the book “Offenses Against the Nation and the State” of the Turkish Penal Code.
Slander
Article 267- (1) Any person who, by notifying or filing a complaint with the competent authorities or through press and publication, imputes an unlawful act to a person, knowing that they did not commit it, in order to initiate an investigation or prosecution against them or to ensure that an administrative sanction is applied, shall be sentenced to imprisonment from one to four years.
(2) In the event that the slander is committed by fabricating material traces and evidence of the act, the penalty shall be increased by half.
(3) If, due to this act, a protection measure other than detention or arrest has been applied against a victim who has been acquitted or for whom a decision of non-prosecution has been issued because they did not commit the imputed act, the penalty to be imposed according to the above paragraphs shall be increased by half.
(4) In the event that the victim, for whom a decision of acquittal or non-prosecution has been issued because they did not commit the imputed act, is detained or arrested due to this act; the slanderer shall also be held responsible as an indirect perpetrator according to the provisions regarding the crime of deprivation of liberty.
(5) In case the victim is sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment or life imprisonment, the penalty imposed shall be twenty to thirty years of imprisonment.
(6) If the execution of the imprisonment sentence to which the victim was sentenced has begun, the penalty to be imposed according to the fifth paragraph shall be increased by half.
(7) (Repealed: By the Constitutional Court's decision dated 17/11/2011, numbered E.: 2010/115, K.: 2011/154.)
(8) The statute of limitations for the crime of slander begins on the date it is established that the victim did not commit the act.
(9) A conviction for the crime of slander committed through press and publication shall be published through the same or an equivalent press and publication organ. The publication costs shall be collected from the convict.
Slander is the act of filing a complaint or notification to the judiciary or an authority required to refer the matter to the judiciary, or to another body that will or can perform a legal prosecution, against a person by imputing a groundless crime to them while knowing that they are innocent, or by fabricating material traces and evidence of the crime. To put it simply, slander is intentionally and groundlessly imputing a crime to an innocent person.
There are various views regarding the legal value protected in the crime of slander. This is because the act constituting slander is in conflict with multiple interests.
In the crime of slander, a groundless accusation violates;
The truth = because it is unreal
The individual = because they are subjected to prosecution for a crime they did not commit
The judiciary = because an investigation that should not have started may begin as a result of an accusation that is not in accordance with the truth
an interest is violated.
It is the duty of all citizens to report criminal incidents in society to official authorities, and in some types of crimes, this has become an obligation. In the process of reporting or complaining about crimes; making false statements against the reported or complained person out of feelings such as grudge, hatred, or hostility, and making groundless accusations against this person constitutes the crime of slander.
The material elements of the crime of slander are examined in 3 basic ways;
Imputing an unlawful act to an innocent person directly by reporting or filing a complaint with competent authorities, or indirectly through press and publication, in order to subject them to a criminal investigation or prosecution or to ensure that an administrative sanction is applied against them (also called formal slander).
Committing the act by fabricating material traces and evidence of the crime or the act requiring an administrative sanction imputed to the innocent person (also called material slander).
Using the identity or identity information belonging to another person to prevent an investigation and prosecution against oneself due to a crime committed.
The perpetrator of the crime; can be anyone. Since a criminal investigation can also be conducted against unknown perpetrators, the situation does not change if the perpetrator does not fully state their name or does not state it at all in the notification or complaint letter, or uses a pseudonym.
The victim of the crime of slander; it should be noted that it is the innocent person against whom an unreal, unlawful act is imputed by the perpetrator.
The moral elements of the crime of slander; this crime can be committed intentionally. Negligent forms of this crime are not punished because; society has an interest in obtaining notifications made regarding crimes that have occurred.
Cases of effective remorse as a personal reason reducing the penalty;
Before the investigation begins
After the investigation begins, before the prosecution begins
After the prosecution begins, before the verdict is rendered by the court of first instance
After the verdict is rendered but before it becomes final
After the verdict becomes final and its execution has begun
In these cases, the reduction of the penalty is at the discretion of the judge.
In cases where the act forming the subject of slander only requires the application of an administrative sanction;
Effective remorse before the administrative sanction is decided
Effective remorse after the administrative sanction is applied
In these cases, the reduction of the penalty is at the discretion of the judge.
In order to benefit from the provisions of effective remorse for slander committed through press and publication; it is stipulated that the retraction of the slander must be published using the same method.
The retraction of the slander must be done clearly and without any hesitation.
I wish you never encounter the type of crime I have tried to summarize above, neither as a perpetrator nor as a victim, and I would like to remind you that if you see/hear this type of crime as an eyewitness, you must report it to law enforcement agencies as a civic duty. Wishing you healthy and peaceful days.