Turkish court charges Duchess of York over undercover film footage shot in state-run orphanage
Turkish court charges Duchess of York over undercover film footage shot in state-run orphanage
They say she 'violated' childrens' privacy
Authorities wait three years to bring case
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 4:37 PM on 12th January 2012
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A Turkish court has charged the Duchess of York over secret filming in an orphanage in the country for a fly-on-the-wall documentary.
Officials have accused Sarah Ferguson in her absence of going 'against the law in acquiring footage' and of violating the privacy of five children who appeared in the TV programme she filmed in 2008.
The Duchess visited the country on an undercover mission to expose the misery of abandoned children kept in state-run orphanages.
Undercover: Sarah Ferguson pictured in Turkey for the controversial ITV documentary filmed in 2008
Documentary team: Chris Rogers with Sarah Ferguson and daughter Beatrice in Turkey during the filming
It is not clear why Turkish authorities have waited three years to raise the charges.
A major diplomatic row broke out between Britain and Turkey following the broadcast of the ITV show Duchess and Daughters: Their Secret Mission.
Disguised in a wig and headscarf, the Duchess visited institutions for disabled and unwanted children in Ankara and Istanbul.
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She spent several weeks investigating orphanages in Turkey and Romania with her daughters filming for broadcaster ITV.
Chris Rogers, the presenter and reporter who travelled with the Duchess for the undercover trip said after the broadcast: 'Sarah and I witnessed children dressed in rags at Turkey's Saray Institution, which had 700 unwanted, disabled youngsters shut up within its walls. There was a terrible stench of urine, sweat and vomit.
Royal team: Sarah Ferguson and daughters Beatrice, left, and Eugenie, right, travelled to Turkey together to make the undercover documentary for ITV
'We saw children tied to benches like dogs, women with their arms pinned behind their back and covered in faeces.'
The Duchess and her entourage posed as potential donors to gain access to the Saray institution near Ankara, where more than 700 disabled children were housed.
They found children tied to their beds or left in cots all day, not even being taken out to be fed.
One child, who was not allowed outside, was discovered crawling along the corridor to feel the sun on his face.
Neriman Kocak, a director of the Saray orphanage, acknowledged that the facility was old and in need of an overhaul, but denied that the children were tied to their beds.
Royal hug: Duchess of York is filmed giving an orphanage child a cuddle during filming of the controversial documentary
When the documentary was filmed Turkey accused the Duchess of launching a 'smear campaign' against the country.
Nimet Cubukcu, minister in charge of family affairs, said shortly after the filmed had aired: 'It is obvious that Sarah Ferguson is ill-intentioned and is trying to launch a smearing campaign against Turkey by opposing Turkey's EU membership.'
The Duchess has always denied trying to stir up trouble. A spokesman at the time said: 'She is apolitical, therefore she has no political motivation. This is all about the welfare of children.'
A spokesman for ITV said of the 2008 broadcast: 'This is a valid area of public interest at a time when the UK government is endorsing the accession of Turkey into the EU, a process which is conditional in part on Turkey improving its human rights record with children.'
The project ultimately turned acrimonious over a dispute arising from the book of the controversial trip for the documentary.