Turkish journalist Yavuz Baydar is going to trial after suing his former media bosses at Turkish newspaper Sabah, iMediaEthics has learned.
He told iMediaEthics today that he is suing for breach of contract.
Baydar was fired last year, as iMediaEthics has reported, after he wrote critical columns of the newspaper. He was the newspaper’s ombudsman.
Baydar had confirmed to iMediaEthics this past week that he is still suing Sabah and that the trial date was set. “The case is due March 25,” he wrote by e-mail.
But, today the case was postponed, he told us this morning by e-mail.
“Trial postponed today till April, the other side claimed to be unprepared and asked for a new date,” he wrote to iMediaEthics.
iMediaEthics reported in November 2013 that Baydar said he would “certainly take the firing decision to court.”
Baydar received an award this month for his willingness to criticize what he called self-censorship in the Turkish press. The European Press Prize committee, considered “the European equivalent to the Pulitzer Prize,” gave him The Special Award, as iMediaEthics has written.
iMediaEthics has e-mailed the newspaper Sabah for comment on the case. We’ll update with any additional information.