Erdem Gül, who started his journalism career as a reporter for ANKA News Agency in 1992, became the Ankara representative of Cumhuriyet newspaper in 2014. In November 2015, Gül was arrested along with Can Dündar, who was the editor-in-chief of the newspaper at the time, as part of an investigation into the newspaper’s 29 May 2015 coverage of claims that Turkey had transferred weapons to jihadists in Syria on trucks operated by the National Intelligence Organization (MİT). The news story included images said to have been taken from a criminal investigation file and that were allegedly taken when the trucks were stopped by the Gendarmerie in January 2014.

On the day Cumhuriyet’s report was published, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office announced that it launched an investigation into the report on the allegations of “obtaining information relating to the security of the state,” “political and military espionage,” “disclosing confidential information” and “terrorism propaganda.” Also on the same day, access to the news story was blocked by a decision of the Istanbul 8th Criminal Judgeship of Peace on the grounds of “national security.” On 1 June 2015, a restriction order was imposed on the investigation file by the Istanbul 1st Criminal Judgeship of Peace.

Gül and Dündar jailed pending trial

About six months later, on 26 November 2015, Gül and Dündar were summoned to the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office for their statements to be taken within the scope of the investigation. Gül and Dündar were questioned on the allegations of “aiding the FETÖ/PDY armed terrorist organization in line with its organizational goals without being a member” and “obtaining and disclosing confidential information for espionage purposes.”

After taking their statements, the public prosecutor referred Gül and Dündar to a criminal judgeship of peace, seeking their imprisonment pending trial on charges of “knowingly and willingly aiding an armed terrorist organization without being a member,” “obtaining confidential information relating to the security of the state for the purpose of political and military espionage” and “disclosing confidential information relating to the security of the state for the purpose of espionage.”

Gül and Dündar were jailed pending trial on the same charges by the Istanbul 7th Criminal Judgeship of Peace and sent to Silivri Prison.

On 4 December 2015, Gül and Dündar’s lawyers filed individual applications with the Constitutional Court against their arrest.

Indictment

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office issued the indictment against Gül and Dündar on 25 January 2016. In addition to the accusations held as the grounds for their arrest, Gül and Dündar were also charged with “attempting to overthrow the government” under Article 312 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) in the indictment, which was accepted by the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court.

The full text of the indictment (in Turkish) is available here.

Released based on Constitutional Court judgment

On 25 February 2016, the Constitutional Court issued its judgment regarding the individual applications made on behalf of Gül and Dündar and ruled by a majority that their imprisonment pending trial violated their right to liberty and security and freedom of expression and press freedom. In accordance with the Constitutional Court’s judgment, Gül and Dündar were released from Silivri Prison in the early hours of 26 February 2016.

Trial

The first hearing of Gül and Dündar’s trial was held at the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court on 25 March 2016. During the hearing, the court accepted motions by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) to be granted intervening party status and decided to impose a confidentiality order on the court proceedings.

Gül given 5-year sentence, “aiding a terrorist organization” charge separated

The final hearing of the trial was held on 6 May 2016. The Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court sentenced Erdem Gül to 5 years in prison and Can Dündar to 5 years and 10 months in prison on the charges of “obtaining and disclosing confidential information relating to the security of the state.” The court acquitted Gül and Dündar of the “coup” charge but separated the charge of “knowingly and willingly aiding a terrorist organization without being a member.”

Trial on “aiding a terrorist organization” charge

The Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court continued hearing the case against Gül and Dündar on the charge of “knowingly and willingly aiding a terrorist organization without being a member” on 21 September 2016.

Gül and the lawyers representing the journalists were present at the hearing. Dündar, who had relocated to Germany and announced that he would not return to Turkey until the state of emergency is lifted, did not attend. The court decided to merge the case against main opposition CHP lawmaker Enis Berberoğlu on charges of “obtaining confidential information for the purpose of military and political espionage” and “aiding a terrorist organization without being a member” with the case against Gül and Dündar. Berberoğlu, also a journalist by career, was accused on the grounds that he had handed the images in Cumhuriyet’s coverage to Dündar.

The prosecutor presented their final opinion during the hearing held on 11 January 2017, asking the court to sentence Gül, Dündar and Berberoğlu as charged.

Berberoğlu sentenced, “aiding a terrorist organization” charge separated

At the eighth hearing of the case, held on 14 June 2017, the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court sentenced Berberoğlu to 25 years in prison and ordered his arrest on the charge of “disclosing confidential information for political and military espionage purposes.” The charge of “knowingly and willingly aiding a terrorist organization without being a member” against Gül, Dündar and Berberoğlu was separated.

Merged with case against Aydınlık newspaper

Several days after Gül and Dündar’s arrest in 2015, Aydınlık newspaper, which covered the “MİT trucks” allegations in 2014, published an editorial headlined “Gelsinler Tutuklasınlar” (‘Let them come and arrest us’) on 5 December 2015.

As a result of an investigation launched by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office against Aydınlık, an indictment was filed in August 2017 against Editor-in-Chief İlker Yücel and former News Director Orhan Ceyhun Bozkurt on the charge of “disclosing confidential information.” Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor İrfan Fidan noted in the indictment: “Since it has been established that the suspects had no connection to the FETO/PDY armed terrorist organization, no charges have been filed under Article 314/2 of the Turkish Penal Code.”

The Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court accepted the indictment against Yücel and Bozkurt in September 2017 and decided to merge the case with the ongoing case against Dündar, Gül and Berberoğlu.

Prosecutor demands sentence; case against Aydınlık separated

During the hearing of the merged cases held on 20 December 2017, the prosecutor submitted their final opinion, requesting that the court sentence Dündar, Gül and Berberoğlu on the charge of “aiding a terrorist organization.” In its interim ruling, the court decided to separate the case against Yücel and Bozkurt on the grounds that there was no connection between the files.

The case against Gül, Dündar and Berberoglu continued with hearings held on 24 January 2018 and 16 February 2018. On 16 February 2018, Gül and Dündar’s lawyers asked the court to wait for the Supreme Court of Appeals review of the judgment in the initial trial. The lawyers also requested that the court wait for the outcome of the case against Aydınlık newspaper and the regional court of appeals’ decision regarding Berberoğlu. Rejecting the requests, the court postponed the case until 14 March 2018.

Sentences reversed by Supreme Court of Appeals, Gül acquitted

On 9 March 2018, the 16th Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals overturned the prison sentences given to Gül and Dündar in 2016. The Court held that Gül should be acquitted of “the charge that cannot be proven due to lack of sufficient, conclusive and convincing evidence that he had obtained confidential information that was a state secret with special effort or that he had participated in the act by the defendant Can Dündar.” The Court held that Dündar should be convicted for “obtaining confidential information for espionage purposes.”

Following the reversal decision, the retrial of Gül and Dündar started on 7 May 2018. The Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court decided to abide by the Supreme Court of Appeals’ reversal decision. At the end of the hearing, the court separated the file against Gül.

Rendering its judgment regarding Erdem Gül at the end of the hearing held on 16 July 2018, the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court acquitted Gül of the charges of “obtaining and disclosing information that should remain confidential for reasons relating to the security of the state or its domestic or foreign political interests for the purpose of political or military espionage.”

Charge against Erdem Gül dismissed

In the meantime, the trial of Erdem Gül, Can Dündar and Enis Berberoğlu on the charge of “aiding a terrorist organization without being a member” continued before the same court with hearings held on 14 March 2018, 9 May 2018, 18 July 2018, 10 October 2018 and 6 February 2019.

During the hearing held on 6 February 2019, the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court decided to separate the file against Dündar and give time to Gül and Berberoğlu for their defense statements and postponed the case to 15 May 2019.

At the end of the hearing held on 15 May 2019, the court dismissed the charge against Gül based on the four-month statute of limitations prescribed in the Press Law and concluded that there was no need to render a judgment regarding Berberoğlu.

The 27th Criminal Chamber of the Istanbul Regional Court of Justice, which serves as an appellate court, upheld the trial court’s judgment in 2020.

Reversal and retrial

In a decision dated 20 December 2022 and uploaded to the National Judicial Informatics System (UYAP) on 31 March 2023, the 3rd Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals overturned the trial court’s judgments regarding Gül and Berberoğlu and held that the defendants should be “sentenced on the charge of aiding a terrorist organization or committing a crime on behalf of a terrorist organization.”

Following the reversal decision, the retrial of Gül, who was elected as the mayor of the Princes Islands in 2019, and CHP MP Berberoğlu started on 13 September 2023. Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court decided to suspend the trial against Berberoğlu until his legislative immunity is lifted and to separate the file against Gül.

Submitting their final opinion during the hearing held on 30 November 2023, the prosecutor asked the court to sentence Gül on the charge of “knowingly and willingly aiding a terrorist organization without being a member” (TCK 220/7). The court adjourned the retrial until 28 February 2024, granting Gül and his lawyers time for their statements in response to the prosecutor’s final opinion.