HSBC Turkey CEO Acquitted on Charge of Insulting Erdogan
- Banker says that case is an assault on his reputation, career
- Turkey has cracked down on dissent since protests in 2013
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HSBC Holdings Plc’s head of Turkey was acquitted over allegations that he insulted President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during anti-government protests nearly six years ago.
Erdogan’s lawyers were absent from the hearing at Istanbul’s Anatolian Justice Palace, the nation’s largest public building, as Selim Kervanci’s lawyer said she was informed the president has no complaints against her client. Wearing a dark grey suit, Kervanci told the judge in his only appearance on the matter that he had no intention of insulting anyone and that the case amounted to “an assault on my career and my reputation.”