Despite Turkey’s controversial referendum ended, lawsuits are still filed against those who made propaganda for the 'no' choice. Prior to the referendum of April 16, four Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) members were taken into custody on March 27 in the southern Turkish city of Adana under the pretext of distributing TKP’s leaflets saying, “Not enough, but no!”
An investigation started against the TKP members, and later a lawsuit was filed on charges of "inciting the population to enmity or hatred".
The investigation document reads: "It is established that the suspects openly incited sections of the population to enmity or hatred towards another group on the basis of social class, race, religion, or sectarian or regional difference, in a manner which may present a clear and imminent danger in terms of public safety through the brochures in question saying, 'what if yes prevails', 'what to do if yes wins', 'what if no prevails' and 'what to do if no wins'."
The first trial of the four TKP members will be conducted on May 25, 2017, on the grounds that they made propaganda for the 'no' choice before the presidential referendum.
Turkish voters went to polling stations on April 16 to either support or reject government-backed constitutional changes that would convert the country's governance system into a presidential republic and therefore increase presidential powers. The fraudulent referendum results showed that the amendments to the constitution were approved by 51.41 percent of votes with all ballots counted.
