A Turkish court has dismissed a compensation claim filed by a citizen who claimed that cigarette companies used his image while in hospital intensive care to warn against the effects of smoking, the newspaper Harriet reported on Friday.
The man named Ibrahim was raised. A filed a lawsuit against five tobacco companies in 2012 in the western province of Ticardag, demanding a compensation of 300,000 Turkish liras ($ 50,000) for using the photograph without his permission.
According to the prosecutor, the photo was taken in the intensive care unit of the province's hospital, where he was treated for respiratory problems in June 2009.
In contrast, tobacco company lawyers said the man in the photo was not Ibrahim.
They explained that "the picture [on cigarette packs] was dated back to 2005 and was selected from the European Commission's checklist."
The court issued its ruling this week, based on an expert report that "the man on the case looks like the plaintiff, but he is not."
The judge also stressed the "mismatch" between the date on which the photograph was taken on the package and the date on which the claimant entered the hospital.
