Journalist Ahmet Kanbal, a reporter for Mezopotamya news agency (MA), has been detained many times over his reporting and his social media posts and has faced several investigations and trials on various charges.

Kanbal was taken into custody at a police station in İzmir on 8 February 2018, where he was called in to provide a statement as part of an investigation for allegedly avoiding military service. It was later learned that Kanbal had been detained as part of an investigation on the allegation of “terrorism propaganda” that had been launched by the Mersin Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. Kanbal was released the next day after being interrogated by a prosecutor at the İzmir Courthouse.

Kanbal was detained once more in İzmir on 12 February 2018 because the prosecutor’s office had not lifted the order for his detention. Kanbal was taken to the Karşıyaka Çarşı Police Station and was released on 13 February 2018 following medical examination after the Mersin Prosecutor’s Office wrote to the Karşıyaka Prosecutor’s Office.

Trial on charge of “terrorism propaganda” 

Kanbal was charged with “terrorism propaganda” under Article 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law (TMK) in an indictment issued as a result of the investigation that had been launched by the Mersin Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. Thirty-one news articles Kanbal had shared on his social media account were listed as evidence for the charge in the case file that was sent to the İzmir Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. The prosecutor who issued the indictment presented posts featuring news reports on the Turkish Armed Forces’ (TSK) military operation on Afrin, Kanbal’s interview with Afrika Gazetesi Editor-in-Chief Şener Levent and a political cartoon by Carlos Latuff as evidence and requested sentencing for Kanbal for having committed the alleged crime “repeatedly” and “by means of the press.” The indictment was accepted by the İzmir 2nd High Criminal Court.

The first hearing of the trial was held on 20 November 2018. Kanbal, who was then residing in Mersin, attended the hearing through the judicial videoconferencing network SEGBİS. After the court heard Kanbal’s defense statement, the prosecutor presented their final opinion, requesting sentencing for the journalist.

The second hearing of the trial was held on 19 March 2019. After hearing Kanbal and his lawyer’s statements, the court decided to request permission from the Ministry of Justice for the trial to proceed under the charge of “publicly denigrating the state of the Republic of Turkey, the institutions and organs of State” as per Article 301/1 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK).

The third and final hearing of the trial was held on 13 December 2019. The minutes were made to reflect that the Ministry of Justice had rejected the request for the trial to proceed under TCK 301. The prosecutor altered their final opinion presented at the first hearing and requested Kanbal’s acquittal because the posts subject to the accusation should be evaluated to fall under the freedom of expression. Ruling in line with the prosecutor’s final opinion, the court acquitted Kanbal.

Detention while covering press statement 

On 20 March 2019, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Mardin Provincial Branch held a press statement outside Mardin Type E Closed Prison in support of the ongoing hunger strikes. Kanbal and JinNews reporter Rojda Aydın, who were covering the press statement, were detained in the police intervention against the demonstration. The journalists were taken to the Counter-Terrorism Branch of the Mardin Police Department and were released after giving statements.

“Terrorism propaganda” investigation over Halfeti post 

The Şanlıurfa Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation against Kanbal on the allegation of “terrorism propaganda” over a social media post Kanbal shared on 21 May 2019, in which the journalist commented on three children who were detained in Halfeti and Bozova districts.

Based on lack of jurisdiction, the prosecutor’s office in Şanlıurfa ruled to send the investigation file to Mardin, where Kanbal resided at the time. The Mardin Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office decided on 29 October 2020 that Kanbal’s act did not constitute the crime of “terrorism propaganda” and that there were no grounds to prosecute for this charge. However, the prosecutor’s office decided to seek the Ministry of Justice’s permission to investigate Kanbal on the allegation of “denigrating the state of the Republic of Turkey, the institutions and organs of the state” under TCK Article 301. The Directorate General for Criminal Affairs of the Ministry of Justice rejected the request and subsequently the Mardin Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office decided not to prosecute on 28 January 2021.

Detention while going home and “whistling in holding cell” investigation

Kanbal was detained by the police on 13 July 2019, as he was going home in Mardin. Kanbal was taken to the Mardin Police Department, and it was later learned that he had been detained as part of an investigation on the allegation of “terrorism propaganda” over his social media posts. The criminal judgeship of peace on duty Kanbal was referred to following his interrogation by the public prosecutor ruled to release Kanbal under a ban on traveling abroad.

On 30 October 2019, the Mardin Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office decided that the elements of the crime were not present and dropped the charge against Kanbal.

However, the Mardin Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched a separate investigation against Kanbal on the allegation of “terrorism propaganda” based on a report filed by police officers who stated that Kanbal had “whistled the tunes to the terrorist organization’s march” while in the police holding cell.

Concluding the investigation more than two years later, on 1 April 2022, the prosecutor’s office decided that Kanbal’s act did not constitute the crime of “terrorism propaganda” and decided not to prosecute.

Detention while covering demonstration against trustees and trial on “2911” charge 

Kanbal and seven others, including fellow journalists Mehmet Şah Oruç, Rojda Aydın, Nurcan Yalçın and Halime Parlak, were taken into custody while covering the protests that took place in Mardin on 20 August 2019 against the appointment of a trustee by the government to the Mardin Metropolitan Municipality. The journalists, who were taken to the Counter-Terrorism Branch of the Mardin Police Department, were subjected to naked body searches and physical violence. Their period of detention was extended by four days on 23 August 2019 on grounds that the “investigation had not been concluded.” The journalists were questioned seven days after being detained. During their questioning by the police on allegations of “terrorism propaganda” and “membership in a terrorist organization,” the journalists were only asked why they were there on the day of the demonstration. They were released on 27 August 2019, without being transferred to the courthouse.

The Mardin Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office concluded its investigation with a decision not to prosecute in November 2019. The decision stated that there was no credible and indisputable evidence that the journalists had committed the alleged crime, other than “intelligence information.”

One year later, on 27 October 2020, the Mardin Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office filed an indictment against the journalists, charging them with “attending meetings and demonstrations unarmed and not dispersing of their own will despite warnings” as per Article 32/1 of the Law 2911 on Meetings and Demonstrations based on the same incident.

Upon the indictment being accepted, the trial against Kanbal and his co-defendants began at the Mardin 1st Criminal Court of First Instance on 27 April 2021. Lawyers representing the journalists demanded their clients’ immediate acquittals based on the documents they had presented showing their clients to be journalists in reference to European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) case-law, notably the Ahmet Şık v. Turkey and Ahmet Altan v. Turkey judgments. Asked for the prosecution’s opinion regarding the request of the lawyers, the prosecutor for the hearing said that the date of validity of the press cards introduced in the case file covered a period “after the date of the crime” and requested the court to reject the request for acquittal. The judge rejected the lawyers’ requests for immediate acquittal as the defendants had not yet delivered their statements.

At the hearing held on 13 October 2021, the judge ruled to send the case file to the prosecutor’s office for the preparation of the final opinion.

At the 20 October 2021 hearing, the prosecutor presented their final opinion and requested the acquittal of the journalists since it was not established that the journalists had committed the impugned crime. The court acquitted the journalists due to lack of evidence that they had committed the alleged crime.

Investigation on “violating the secrecy of investigation” allegation 

The Mardin Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation against Kanbal on the allegation of “violating the confidentiality of an investigation” for reporting on the arrest of nine people, including former Nusaybin 2nd Border Sation Commander İlkay Katı and NCOs Nihat Muratoğlu, Gürkan Sinan and Aziz Çakı as part of an investigation carried out by the Mardin Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office on “bribery” and “migrant smuggling” allegations.

Kanbal found out that he was under investigation when he was called in to give a statement on 10 November 2020. The investigation was launched upon a complaint regarding the news story headlined “2’nci Hudut Komutanı rüşvet ve göçmen kaçakçılığından tutuklandı” (2nd Border Station Commander arrested for bribery and migrant smuggling), dispatched by MA on 15 September 2020. The complaint filed by the lawyers of the arrested officers claimed that MA’s coverage had contained details of the investigation for which a confidentiality order had been issued.

The prosecutor’s office concluded the investigation against Kanbal in January 2022 and decided not to prosecute because the elements of the allegation did not exist.

Trial on “insulting a public official” charge 

The Mardin Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation against Ahmet Kanbal on 13 April 2020 on the allegations of “publicly denigrating the Turkish nation, the state of the Republic of Turkey, the Parliament, the government of the Republic of Turkey and the judicial institutions of the state” and “insulting a public official” over a post Kanbal shared on his personal social media account on the day former Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu resigned from office. Kanbal’s post read: “Batacak olan gemiyi ilk önce fareler terk eder... Evrensel bir sözdür… Fareler gidince gemi de batar…” (Rats flee a sinking ship first. It’s a universal saying. Once the rats are gone, the ship sinks).

As a result of the investigation, launched upon a complaint by Soylu, an indictment that charged Kanbal with “insulting a public official” (TCK 125/3) was issued on 1 June 2020. The indictment, which listed Soylu as the “injured party,” was accepted by the Mardin 1st Criminal Court of First Instance.

The prosecutor for the hearing, who presented the final opinion at the first hearing held on 10 March 2022, requested Kanbal’s acquittal, stating that “… the tweet discovered through a search of open sources was not shared under any comment or news article about the complainant and that the case file did not contain any other evidence indicating that the word ‘fare’ [rat] was written with the direct intention to insult the complainant.” Ruling in line with the prosecutor’s final opinion, the court acquitted Kanbal.

Investigation on “inciting hatred and enmity” and “threat” allegations 

The Mardin Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation against Kanbal on the allegations of “inciting the people to hatred and enmity” and “threat” over his news article “Testleri pozitif çıkan çocuklar diğer çocuklarla aynı ünitede” (Children who tested positive held in the same unit as others), published on 30 March 2020.

The investigation was launched upon a complaint filed by the Mardin Provincial Directorate of Health against Kanbal’s report, which claimed that children who tested positive with Covid-19 were being kept in quarantine with children who tested negative in the same unit in a state hospital.

Concluding the investigation on 12 June 2020, the prosecutor’s office decided not to prosecute, saying that the elements of the charges were not present in the news article subject to the complaint and that the complainant had also not made any efforts as part of their right to correction.

Trial on TMK 6/1 charge 

The Aydın Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation against Kanbal due to a social media post in which Kanbal commented on an interview journalist Yağmur Kaya had conducted with lawyer Eren Keskin, the co-chair of the Human Rights Association (İHD). The investigation was launched upon a complaint by then Deputy Commander General of Gendarmerie Lt. General Musa Çitil, whom Keskin had mentioned in the interview published on Artı Gerçek news portal on 20 August 2020.

The Aydın Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office issued an indictment against Kanbal on 6 July 2021, charging the journalist with “marking a person assigned with the fight against terrorism as a target” (TMK 6/1) and “insulting a public official” (TCK 125/3).

As Kanbal lived in Mardin, the prosecutor’s office in Aydın sent the file to the Mardin Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. Upon the Mardin Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office deciding that it had no jurisdiction, the Midyat High Criminal Court examined the file and ruled that the Aydın Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office was competent on 13 April 2021. Following this decision, Kanbal’s trial began at the Aydın 3rd High Criminal Court.

The first hearing of the trial was held on 10 December 2021. Kanbal and his lawyer argued for the incompetence of the court and requested that it recuse itself. Stating that Kanbal had started to present his defense statement during the directions hearing held on 30 November 2021 and that therefore the court could not recuse itself on grounds of incompetence, the court rejected the request. The prosecutor for the hearing presented their final opinion following defense statements by Kanbal and his lawyer and requested sentencing for Kanbal as per TMK 6/1 on the grounds that Kanbal’s post had “listed Çitil’s locations of duty and therefore there was intent to present Çitil as a target.” The prosecutor also argued that Kanbal had allegedly committed the crime of “insulting a public official” by comparing Çitil and Musa Orhan, but that there were no grounds to render a judgment on the charge of “insulting a public official” because the charge of “marking persons assigned with the fight against terrorism as targets” carried a graver penalty. The court accepted Musa Çitil’s request to join the case as an intervening party and adjourned the trial after allowing Kanbal and his lawyers time to prepare their statements in response to the final opinion.

The third and final hearing of the trial was held on 2 March 2022. The court sentenced Kanbal to 1 year and 3 months of imprisonment for “marking a person assigned with the fight against terrorism as a target” and ruled that there were no grounds to pass a judgment on the charge of “insulting a public official.”

Ruling on the appeal by Kanbal’s lawyer on 21 December 2022, the 2nd Criminal Chamber of the İzmir Regional Court of Justice reversed Kanbal’s sentence and decided to pass a new judgment on Kanbal to remedy the unlawful judgment rendered by the trial court. Ruling that there was no evidence free of all forms of doubt indicating that Kanbal had the intent to commit the alleged crime, the appellate court ruled for Kanbal’s acquittal.

Investigation on allegation of “inciting hatred and enmity” 

Upon being called in to give a statement to the Mardin Police Department, Kanbal found out that an investigation had been launched against him on 10 March 2022.

The investigation file on the allegation of “inciting hatred and enmity” contained Kanbal’s news story headlined “Ölen kişiyi gözaltına almak için evine baskın yapıldı” (Home raid to detain dead person); his reporting on incidents of sexual assault perpetrated by soldiers; his coverage of corruption allegations regarding the trustee appointed to the Mardin Metropolitan Municipality; his reporting on a ban on a Kurdish play imposed by the Mardin Governor’s Office; and his social media posts on Uğur Kaymaz, Ceylan Önkol, Ali el Hemdani and Hacı Lokman Birlik, who were killed by law enforcement.

The investigating prosecutor concluded the investigation on 20 April 2022 with a decision not to prosecute on grounds of lack of evidence to form adequate suspicion.

Operation of 25 April 2023 and investigation on “membership in a terrorist organization” allegation 

Ahmet Kanbal was among journalists taken into custody on 25 April 2023 in home raids carried out as part of an investigation launched by the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. MA editor Abdurrahman Gök, reporter Mehmet Şah Oruç and lawyer Resul Temur, who represents many Kurdish journalists, were among those detained as part of the investigation, which led to home raids in 21 provinces and the detention of at least 145 people. The investigation was launched based on testimony by witness Ümit Akbıyık.

Kanbal, who was brought from Mardin to Diyarbakır upon being taken into custody, learned during his interrogation by the prosecutor that he was detained on the allegation of “membership in a terrorist organization.” He was questioned about statements by Akbıyık, his reporting and his social media posts. After spending four days in custody, Kanbal was referred to a criminal judgeship of peace, which released the journalist under a ban on traveling abroad. The investigation against Kanbal is still underway.

Two investigations, one court case on “disinformation” charge 

The Mardin Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation against Kanbal on the allegation of “publicly disseminating misleading information” over a social media post he shared on 5 August 2021. However, Kanbal had shared the post subject to the investigation before the entry into force of Article 217/A, which was introduced to the Turkish Penal Code in October 2022. In this post, Kanbal stated that a forest fire had begun in the rural Ömeryan area of the Nusaybin district of Mardin at the same time as an operation launched by the TSK.

The investigating prosecutor concluded the investigation on 31 May 2023 with a decision not to prosecute on grounds that the crime of “publicly disseminating misleading information” was a crime “committed with special intent” and that the “suspect should be aware that the information is misleading and should act with the intent to create concern, fear and panic in the public, whereas there was no concrete evidence or indication that the suspect had acted with such intent, requiring the filing of criminal proceedings.”

However, another investigation launched against Kanbal in May 2023 on the same allegation did lead to a court case. The indictment issued by the Mardin Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office on 31 May 2023 listed Kanbal’s Twitter post regarding a ballot box that had temporarily gone unaccounted for in Mardin on the night of Turkey’s 14 May 2023 general elections as evidence for the charge of “publicly disseminating misleading information.”

Kanbal’s trial began at the Mardin 1st Criminal Court of First Instance on 18 October 2023. The court ruled to request the original version of the petition about the missing ballot box filed by the YSP ballot representative from the Artuklu District Electoral Board and for the president of the said ballot board to be heard as witness. The trial was adjourned until 13 December 2023.

Before the second hearing of the trial, P24 prepared an expert opinion on Kanbal’s case. The expert opinion penned by lawyer Benan Molu was presented to the court by Kanbal’s lawyer during the hearing. P24 also monitored the hearing, at the end of which the court acquitted Kanbal on the grounds that the legal elements of the impugned crime did not exist. 

Trial on “terrorism propaganda” charge 

Kanbal was detained in an early morning raid on his home on 6 October 2023 as part of an investigation carried out by the Mardin Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. Kanbal’s computer was confiscated during the raid. Kanbal was taken to the Counter-Terrorism Branch of the Mardin Police Department and released the same day after giving a statement. 

The Mardin Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office filed an indictment against Kanbal on the charge of “terrorism propaganda” (TMK 7/2) on 1 November 2023. The indictment, which was issued as a result of the investigation that was started upon a complaint, listed a news report headlined “QSD: Düşen helikopterde 9 savaşçımız hayatını kaybetti” (QSD: Nine fighters killed in crashed helicopter), dispatched by MA on 17 March 2023, as evidence for the accusation. The prosecutor claimed that photos of members of the PKK/KCK had been used in the photo accompanying the report and requested sentencing for Kanbal, arguing that sharing the news article on his social media account “could not be considered under the right to information.” The prosecutor requested an aggravated sentence on grounds that the crime “had been committed through the press.”

Despite there being no photos of PKK/KCK members accompanying the news report dispatched by MA, the Mardin 2nd High Criminal Court accepted the indictment.

Kanbal’s trial began on 23 January 2024. After hearing the statements of Kanbal and his lawyer Erdal Kuzu, the court granted the prosecutor time to prepare their final opinion and adjourned the trial.

The second hearing was held on 1 February 2024. Presenting their final opinion, the prosecutor requested Kanbal's acquittal of the "terrorism propaganda" charge because the elements of the alleged crime were not present. Ruling in line with the prosecutor's final opinion, the court acquitted Kanbal. 

Decision not to prosecute and new criminal complaint on “disinformation” allegation 

The Mardin Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation against Kanbal on the allegation of “terrorism propaganda” over his live reporting from the earthquake zone following the deadly earthquakes of 6 February 2023.

In January 2024, the public prosecutor decided not to prosecute. However, stating that it would be possible to reopen the file in case new evidence is obtained, the prosecutor’s office decided to file an official complaint against Kanbal on the allegation of “publicly disseminating misleading information” under TCK 217/A.