She had faced up to four years and eight months in prison for her statement in which she said, “We will send a dictator out of this country through democratic means.” The judge ruled that the statement cannot be considered as an insult.

The trial was held Istanbul, where Kaftancioglu and her lawyer were present, along with Erdogan’s lawyer, Ferah Yildiz.

During the hearing, Kaftancioglu conveyed her well wishes to President Erdogan, who had fallen ill the previous day, and stated that the term “dictator” is an international political term and not an insult. She added, “Using this term is a statement, not an insult, and it is a fact that we will send the dictator out of this country through democratic means.”

The prosecutor had already called for Kaftancioglu's acquittal during the previous hearing, and the defense reiterated their request for her acquittal. Erdogan’s lawyer, on the other hand, repeated his previous statement.

After the hearing, Kaftancioglu made a brief statement to the press, saying that “Today, we have been acquitted of the charges against us. We said, ‘We will send a dictator out of this country through democratic means,’ to a group of young people at a meeting. We all know what the term ‘dictator’ means. But we are talking about a country where a person without criminal liability was detained for using this term in Mersin. What we want is a country where the rule of law is established, where judges work within the framework of the law, and where cases are not decided by orders from above. We hope that we will see a period in which the rule of law prevails in this country from May 14th.”