Journalists and academics bear the brunt of the massive crackdown on freedom of expression in Turkey. Scores of them are currently subject to criminal investigations or behind bars. This website is dedicated to tracking the legal process against them.
15 Kurdish journalists have appeared in court after 13 months in pre-trial detention and were released under judicial control measures. The trial has been adjourned until 9 November 2023
ÖZKAN KÜÇÜK, DİYARBAKIR
The first hearing in the trial on charges of “membership in a terrorist organization” of 18 journalists, 15 of whom had been in pre-trial detention following their arrest on 8 June 2022 as part of a Diyarbakır-based investigation has been held at the Diyarbakır 4th High Criminal Court on 11 and 12 July.
Imprisoned journalists Serdar Altan, Mehmet Ali Ertaş, Aziz Oruç, Elif Üngür, İbrahim Koyuncu, Lezgin Akdeniz, Mazlum Güler, Mehmet Şahin, Neşe Toprak, Ömer Çelik, Ramazan Geciken, Suat Doğuhan, Zeynel Abidin Bulut, Abdurrahman Öncü and Remziye Temel as well as journalists Esmer Tunç, Mehmet Yalçın and Kadir Bayram who are free pending trial were present at the hearing, which P24 monitored.
The hearing at the Diyarbakır 4th High Criminal Court that commenced on 11 July was attended by the families of journalists, as well as representatives of the Turkish Journalists Association, the Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ), Reporters Without Borders (RSF), International Press Institute (IPI), Ankara Journalists Association, the Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS), PEN Norway, Green Left Party and CHP MPs, the Dicle Fırat Journalists Association (DFG), Mezopotamya Women Journalists Platform (MKGP), the Association for Researching Truths in Press and Law (BAHAD), Human Rights Association (İHD) Diyarbakır Branch, Lawyers for Freedom Association, KESK and the Bar Association of Diyarbakır.
Court rejects request for recusal
Lawyers who spoke before the defendants’ statements requested the judges to recuse themselves on grounds that the prosecutor who prepared the indictment is married to a member of the panel of judges. The court rejected the request on grounds that it would “cause loss of time.” The hearing then proceeded with the defense statements by journalists.
Imprisoned journalist and co-chair of the Dicle Fırat Journalists Association (DFG) Serdar Altan delivered his defense statement in Kurdish through a court interpreter.
Altan began his statement by saying, “Since the press is on trial here, we will defend journalism” and added that the indictment was connected to the political climate. Altan went on as follows: “There is a democracy problem in this country and the Kurdish issue is the primary problem. Not only is the Kurdish problem not resolved but they do not want it to be voiced. They do not want a free press and this is a historical problem. Before the AKP we talked about the press not being free. Under the AKP, it is not possible to talk about journalism anymore. The indictment was copied and pasted from many other cases. After waiting for 10 months, we expected to come across an indictment of consequence. After many twists and turns, the indictment essentially proves that we are journalists. And yet it accuses us. Who will be held accountable for the limits brought to our freedom? The time we spent in custody amounts to torture. We are plaintiffs suing for our rights to freedom and justice that were taken away. We are not defendants here, we are plaintiffs.”
“It is journalism that is being tried”
Following Altan, imprisoned Mezopotamya Agency (MA) editor Ömer Çelik delivered his defense statement. In his statement delivered through an interpreter, Çelik said that his journalistic activities were being depicted as a crime and he was on trial for this reason.
Çelik said that of the 52 programs he had prepared in a year, six were picked out to criminalize him and continued: “My talk with HDP MP Ömer Öcalan about the isolation in prison was presented as a crime. The indictment states that I received instructions before and after every programme. I have been a journalist for 15 years and I have never received instructions from anyone. Are we not to talk about solutions to the Kurdish problem? During the resolution process, some journalists, including Abdülkadir Selvi, made positive statements about Öcalan. But when we bring the matter up, it is deemed as an element of crime. Will there be justice for all is something we wonder. In this trial, it is journalism that is being tried.”
“This miscarriage of justice should end”
Journalist in pre-trial detention Zeynel Abidin Bulut also delivered his defense statement in Kurdish. Bulut said, “We are on trial for journalistic activities that are protected under the constitution.” Asking “If the judiciary that is tasked with upholding the constitution acts so, where are we to turn to?” Bulut continued:
“We are members of the Kurdish people and of press organizations and it is unacceptable to turn this into a charge of membership of an organization. It is clear that the prosecutor does not know anything about journalistic activities.”
Stating that he did not accept the charge brought against him, Bulut concluded by saying “We have undertaken no work that we cannot defend. We own up to all our work. Therefore, we do not accept anything that is considered a crime in the indictment. We are not defendants here, we are plaintiffs. How will those who have denied us our freedom for a year and denied the people their right to be informed of the news account for their actions? We demand that this miscarriage of justice should end.”
Following Bulut, Xwebûn newspaper managing editor Mehmet Ali Ertaş, who is being tried in remand, delivered his defense statement. Ertaş said “What are being tried through us is Kurdish journalism and the Kurdish people. This reflects the mentality of denying the Kurdish identity. Arresting journalists is in itself a form of censorship. We work in keeping with the universal principles of journalism. This censorship is intended to deny the people their right to be informed of the news.”
Imprisoned journalist Mehmet Şahin, who delivered his defense statement after Ertaş through an interpreter said, “It is clear that the prosecutor has taken up the task of purging Kurdish journalism. As a Kurdish journalist, I need no instructions to make evaluations about what is on the agenda of the Kurdish people and neither would I accept any instructions. The indictment is careless and lacks merit.”
“News items are the only elements of crime in the indictment”
The second hearing in the trial on 12 July commenced with the defense statement by imprisoned MA editor Aziz Oruç, who said:
“I have been placed in pre-trial detention and acquitted on similar charges many times. I spent almost the entire 2020 in prison. Now, after 13 months in custody, I am appearing in court on similar charges. We have been imprisoned for 400 days not for committing any crimes but as the price of practicing journalism. News items are the only elements of crime in the indictment. The indictment stigmatizes us by essentially saying ‘You are journalists but you are terrorists.”
After Oruç, imprisoned journalist Suat Doğuhan delivered his defense statement. Stating that he has owned a business since 2016, Doğuhan said, “The indictment presents the presence of another production company in the same building as ours as illegal activity. Production companies work together due to the nature of their work. But the indictment interprets this in many other ways.”
Following Doğuhan, imprisoned journalist Elif Üngür delivered her defense statement. Üngür said that all news items subject to the charge were in line with journalistic ethics. In his defense statement, imprisoned journalist Mazlum Güler requested his acquittal on grounds of being charged over the content of programs in which he worked as a camera operator.
In his defense statement, imprisoned journalist Ramazan Geciken said, “Conversations with co-workers on my professional activities are presented as elements of crime in the indictment. I am not a member of any organization. I work to earn a living for my family. I reject the charge” and requested his acquittal.
İmprisoned journalists İbrahim Koyuncu, Abdurrahman Öncü and Remziye Temel also presented their defense statements and said there was no concrete evidence against them and that the voice recordings subject to the charge were conversations with co-workers, before requesting their acquittal.
Delivering her defense statement through an interpreter, imprisoned journalist Neşe Toprak said, “I am a painter and art takes from society and gives back to society. So does journalism. For this reason, I have been working in the press for two years and trying to emphasize work carried out by women. As a woman artist and journalist, I will continue my free thinking and free press activities to pursue true news. I reject the accusations brought against me in the indictment.”
İmprisoned journalists Lezgin Akdeniz, who delivered his defense statement through an interpreter said “The prosecutor who filed the indictment wrote about our journalistic activities across 800 pages without once using the words ‘journalism’ or ‘press’. Had the prosecutor done so, all the accusations would have fallen one by one like domino pieces.”
Journalists Kadir Bayram, Esmer Tunç and Mehmet Yalçın, who are free pending trial, said in their defense statements that they agreed with the defense statements based on the practice of journalism delivered by the other defendants and that they rejected the charge against them.
Witnesses deny their statements taken during the investigation
Following the completion of the defense statements by the journalists on trial, the court heard the testimony of known and secret witnesses. Witness Mehmet Çelik, who said he did not personally know any of the journalists said, “I have no knowledge of their propaganda activities or connections with the PKK,” thereby denying his previous statements.
A secret witness who attended the hearing through the judicial videoconferencing system stated that they knew the journalists from demonstrations and other events that took place in Diyarbakır and had met almost all of them at the Pel Yapım production company.
Witness Kezban Kuday, who also attended the hearing through judicial videoconferencing system said that she only knew journalist Serdar Altan, from an event in Silopi. Kuday denied her statements about the PKK connection of Pel Yapım in her previous statements and said, “The interviews Pel Yapım carried out did not fall in the field of illegal activities.”
Making counter statements against witnesses’ testimonies, the defendant journalists said they did not accept the points against them.
The prosecutor for the hearing requested the continuation of the remand of journalists on grounds of the present status of evidence, the nature of the impugned crime and some evidence not having been collected.
“Continuation of pre-trial detention from this point on would be nothing short of hostage taking”
Lawyer Resul Temur, representing all defendants, said “Prosecutors came up with their own definitions of journalist. This case consists of a manipulatively prepared indictment.”
Lawyer Temur pointed out irregularities in the case by saying “Digital materials belonging to journalists were confiscated unconstitutionally. We were not presented with any order for confiscation. While we could not access the case file, the prosecution leaked information about the case to the pro-government press through the police.”
Temur added that during the first six months until December there had been no developments in the case, but in December the prosecutor had cut their leave short to hear the secret witness’ testimony and said “The reason for such hurry is a delivery order to do with the court case against the HDP. This was a delivery order intended to use relations with Pel Yapım in this case to ensure treasury aid to the HDP was cut off.” Temur said that the indictment had based the charge entirely on journalistic activities and concluded by saying “My clients have been in pre-trial detention for 13 months. Continuation of this from this point on would be nothing short of hostage taking. I request their release.”
Lawyer Abdullah Zeytun said, “My clients are all members of journalism groups and associations relevant to their field of activity. We see that the prosecutor has resorted to manipulating perceptions. The indictment states that some of my clients are members of the Human Rights Association, of which I am a branch president. Criminalizing the right to free association to such an extent shows that the prosecution is motivated by politics and not by the law.”
Taking a short recess, the court ruled to release all journalists under the judicial control measure with international travel ban. The trial was adjourned until 9 November 2023.
Background of the case
18 journalists were arrested on 8 June 2022 as part of a Diyarbakır-based investigation. They were kept in police custody for eight days, before being transferred to the Criminal Court of Peace on 16 June 2022 with a request for their arrest. Upon the completion of their interrogation at the court, Dicle Fırat Journalists Association Co-Chair Serdar Altan, Mezopotamya Agency editor Aziz Oruç, Xwebûn newspaper managing editor Mehmet Ali Ertaş and journalists Zeynel Abidin Bulut, Ömer Çelik, Mazlum Doğan Güler, İbrahim Koyuncu, Neşe Toprak, Elif Üngür, Abdurrahman Öncü, Suat Doğuhan, Remziye Temel, Ramazan Geciken, Lezgin Akdeniz and Mehmet Şahin were placed in pre-trial detention. Journalists Esmer Tunç, Mehmet Yalçın and Kadir Bayram had been released under judicial control measures.