Court rules there is no grounds to sentence Berberoğlu as he was previously sentenced for “disclosing confidential information relating to the security of the state” over the same news report

The final hearing of Cumhuriyet daily’s former Ankara representative Erdem Gül and main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Enis Berberoğlu in the “MİT trucks case” was held on 15 May 2019 at the 14th High Criminal Court of Istanbul. Gül and Berberoğlu were in attendance with their lawyers. The accusation against Gül and Berberoğlu, “aiding a terrorist organization without being its member,” stems from a news report published in 2015 in Cumhuriyet daily about alleged weapons transfer to jihadists in Syria on trucks operated by Turkey’s National Intelligence Agency (MİT).

During the first half of the hearing, which was closed to the public, the court heard the final defense statements. Following a recess, the audience and the press were allowed to enter the courtroom for the announcement of the judgment. In its judgment regarding Gül, the court ruled that the type of offense had been amended and a new charge of “violating the confidentiality of an investigation” arose, but since the four-month statute of limitations for pressing charges as per Article 26/1 of Turkey’s Press Law had expired, the court ruled to dismiss the case.

Concerning Berberoğlu’s file, the court ruled that there was no need to render a separate judgment on the charge of “aiding a terrorist organization without being a member” because Berberoğlu was previously sentenced in another trial over the same news report on the charge of “disclosing confidential information relating to the security of the state,” a charge that “also involves aiding a terrorist organization without being a member” and that has already been upheld by the Supreme Court of Appeals. The court also lifted the international travel ban on Berberoğlu.

Court adjourns trial of Can Dündar, awaiting his extradition 

The retrial of Can Dündar, Cumhuriyet’s former editor-in-chief, on the charge of “disclosing confidential information for espionage purposes” over the same news content, also resumed on 15 May at the 14th High Criminal Court of Istanbul. In March 2018, the 16th Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals had reversed the 14th High Criminal Court’s 6 May 2016 judgment in Dündar’s case and ordered a retrial.

At the fourth hearing held on Wednesday, Dündar’s lawyers and the lawyers representing President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the MİT Undersecretary were in attendance. Dündar’s wife Dilek Dündar observed the hearing, which was closed to the public.

In its interim ruling, the court decided to wait for the response from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a sample and a translation of the complaint letter written by the head of the Permanent Mission of the Syrian Arab Republic to the United Nations, to the Presidency of the UN Security Council and the Secretary General about the Government of the Republic of Turkey on 5 June 2015, mentioned in the Supreme Court of Appeals’ remittitur. The court also decided to wait for the response from German judicial authorities regarding Turkey’s request for Dündar's extradition and set 31 October 2019 as the date for the next hearing.