The court has ruled to order an expert’s report for investigating whether Tekin had purposefully filmed the correction officers subject to the complaint and whether she was aware that their vehicle had entered the camera angle

ALTAN SANCAR, ANKARA

The first hearing in the trial of the documentary filmmaker Sibel Tekin, who produced the documentary film Karanlıkta Başlayan Hayat (The Life that Begins in Darkness) on the subject of the permanent summer time implementation, was held at the Ankara 26th High Criminal Court.

Tekin and her lawyers attended the hearing, which P24 monitored. Many filmmakers, journalists and rights advocates, including representatives of the Union of Documentary Filmmakers (BSB), Modern Journalists’ Association (ÇGD), press labor union DİSK Basın-İş Ankara Branch, 10 October Solidarity, 10 October Association, the Flying Broom Foundation and Human Rights Association Co-Chair Öztürk Türkdoğan.

Asked for her employment position during identification, Tekin said she was a lecturer at the faculty of Communication of Hacettepe University, but had been suspended after her imprisonment. Beginning her defense after identification, Tekin said she had graduated from the Faculty of Communication of Ankara University, had made independent documentaries since 1998, had worked at the TRT as an assistant and film editor from 2000-2007 and that she had been lecturing on film editing and documentary cinema at Hacettepe University since 2007. Recounting that she had made documentaries on many social events, including the bombing of 10 October and the TEKEL workers’ strike, Tekin said that she was not a member of any organization and requested her acquittal.

“Only those acts that are being criminalized are shown in the digital examinations”

The president of the panel of judges asked Tekin “What were you shooting that day, why were you shooting at that hour?” Tekin responded as follows: “On 15 December, around 6:45 a.m. I arrived in Tuzluçayır neighborhood and got off at Abidin Aktaş. In fact, I called a taxi from the taxi app and shot images of the cars on NATO Road and the crowds of people. I got images of children, minibuses, people going to work and school. I wanted to make a documentary about summer time becoming permanent, but I had not been able to because of the pandemic. That life begins in darkness affects many people, including me. So as not to get their faces, I shot images of people from behind. I shot school buildings with their lights on. I walked to Dikimevi. From Dikimevi I took the subway to work and then I went home. There was an online meeting of independent filmmakers and it ended late at night. I went to bed and woke up when they came to arrest me.”

The prosecutor for the hearing asked Tekin “You say you were shotting for the documentary on The Life that Begins in Darkness that morning. Did you have a written permission for this?” Tekin said “As I hold an international press card, I do not need to get additional permission. For this reason, I did not apply for any additional permission.”

The prosecutor then asked “In most of our digital examinations, we encountered images of demonstrations by organizations such as the THKP-C and TİKKO. How do you receive information about these demonstrations?” In response, Tekin said “I shoot images of demonstrations with public calls, that are open to the public. I did not get images of the organizations you mention, but of demonstrations on the streets of Ankara. I have captured many such demonstrations. I got images of the demonstration by a conservative group outside the Egyptian Embassy, I got images of demonstrations by football fan groups. Only those acts that are being criminalized are shown in the digital examinations, which have just focused on parts.”

“Journalists and filmmakers cannot be put on trial for professional activities”

Cenk Yiğiter, one of Tekin’s lawyers, said “Unless they are military or special zones, images may be recorded in public spaces without permission. Furthermore, my client is a member of the press. The images recorded by Sibel Tekin are from public space and of previously announced demonstrations. It is possible that police cameras were recording the same demonstrations from just behind Sibel. Sibel is now on trial for capturing images that law enforcement itself has.”

Stating that he would move on to the technical part of the defense regarding the day of the event, Yiğiter said “Sibel uses a Sony brand handheld camera. She has a camera that belongs to the 2010s technologically and has low resolution. It can only shoot up to three meters in the dark. The prosecution has also identified this point. The prosecution says that there is intelligence gathering and yet says that buildings, vehicles and people are not clear. It is quite clear that this is not a camera that is suitable for intelligence gathering. The video quality on the confiscated mobile phone is much better. If Sibel has wanted to, she could have recorded images on her phone.”

Yiğiter said that journalists and filmmakers could not be put on trial for membership of an organization for practicing their professions and added “Journalist Mehmet Ali Birand interviewed [PKK leader] Öcalan, took images from PKK camps and published interviews. The history of the Dev-Sol organization was recounted on the 32. Gün TV program. He interviewed DHKP-C militants in İstanbul. And he was not punished for any of it. Why are you putting Tekin on trial now, when such a thing would not happen, even in old Turkey” and requested his client’s acquittal.

“Discrediting attempt”

Murat Yılmaz, another one of Tekin’s lawyers said: “In such trials, the prosecutors who produce these bad indictments should come to the hearings. We will raise their awareness; enhance their perception and they will not make such legal mistakes when it comes to someone else. The esteemed prosecutor would have learned a lot about how to shoot documentaries here. They are trying to find an organization to pin on Sibel. Yet, law enforcement has known about Sibel for years, they get images from the same demonstrations. They know that Sibel is an academic, that intelligence gathering does not happen at a leisurely pace over some hours and that Sibel’s recordings cannot be considered intelligence gathering, but the esteemed prosecutor connects Sibel with many organizations. The prosecutor finds a connection between the Kaldıraç magazine and the DHKP-C. They know very well that even the police do not connect Kaldıraç with this organization. The esteemed prosecutor has got many organizations mixed up and then could not decide which to pin on my client. So, the prosecution listed the names TİKKO, THKP-C; PKK, MLKP ve DHKP-C. This indictment should have been turned down. What the prosecution is essentially saying is ‘If they want to show lives beginning in darkness, they should shoot at daytime with people’s faces clear.’ Sibel should be acquitted immediately.”

Another one of Tekin’s lawyers, Mehtap Sakinci reminded the court of the security camera footage from the taxi rank. She said they needed to be watched. Upon the president of the panel of judges objecting to viewing the footage already included in the file, Sakinci said “We want to view it and talk about it.” Speaking about the footage, Sakinci said: “Look, Sibel does not hide anywhere and the people at the taxi rank have worked there for at least 20 years. The people of Tuzluçayır are not suspicious of Sibel. Three images were included in the file, and this is one of them. These images were presented to the court as a digital report and were considered evidence against. The claim of gathering intelligence for a bomb attack against a person who has devoted her academic career and life to documentary filmmaking constitutes the greatest challenge of my legal career. We see all this as attempts to discredit Sibel. Why have you not yet been able to find an organization to pin on Sibel? Because she cannot be connected with any organization. Even the Ankara Directorate of Security knows this well. These attempts at discrediting my client should end and she should be acquitted.”

The prosecutor requested an expert’s report and an examination of the computer for investigating whether Tekin had purposefully filmed the correction officers subject to the complaint and whether she was aware that their vehicle had entered the camera angle.

The court ruled in line with the prosecution’s request to order an expert’s report. The court ruled to keep the international travel ban on Teki̇n in place but lifted the judicial control measures. The trial was adjourned until 8 June 2023.

Background of the case

A complaint was filed against Sibel Tekin who recorded images of people going to work in the darkness in the Tuzluçayır neighbourhood of Ankara on 15 December 2022 due to the permanent summer time implementation. The complaint alleged that recorded images contained images of the bus carrying correction officers and a police control point along the road. Tekin was arrested in a raid on her home on 16 December 2022. Tekin was imprisoned pending trial for “membership in a terrorist organization” on 17 December 2022 and placed in Sincan Prison.

The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office filed an indictment that was submitted 16 days after Tekin’s imprisonment, in which it claimed that the filmmaker who was shooting images about the permanent summer time implementation was “gathering intelligence upon directions from an illegal organization” but did not name the organization Tekin was a member of.

After spending 44 days in prison, Tekin was released on 30 January 2023 with an international travel ban abroad and judicial control measures. Tekin was placed in pre-trial detention over “the images of the bus carrying correction officers and a police control point along the road being collected during the documentary shoot.”