The court has decided to drop the case on the grounds that the 5-year probation period of deferment of the sentence issued for Çaralan expired

CANSU PİŞKİN, İSTANBUL

The third hearing in the retrial of Evrensel daily columnist İhsan Çaralan on the charge of “terrorism propaganda” was held at the İstanbul 14th High Criminal Court on 9 July 2024. Çaralan was on trial for participating in the Özgür Gündem’s “Editor-in-Chief on Duty” campagn.

Çaralan and his lawyer Devrim Avcı were present at the hearing, which P24 monitored.

The prosecutor delivered their final opinion on the case and requested the court to drop the case on the grounds that the 5-year probation period of deferment of the sentence issued for Çaralan expired.

The court, ruling in line with the prosecutor’s request, decided to drop the case.

Background of the case

In May 2016, 100 journalists, authors and academics had launched Editor-in-Chief on Duty solidarity campaign to protest the lawsuits filed against Özgür Gündem daily Co-Editors-in-Chief Eren Keskin and Hüseyin Aykol. Çaralan had joined the campaign on 31 May 2016 and served as editor-in-chief for one day. Then, Çaralan faced suits filed on charges of "terrorism propaganda," “incitemenet to commit crime” and “praising an offense or an offender”.

Çaralan was sentenced to 1 year and 3 months in prison on the charge of “terrorism propaganda” at the end of the final hearing held at the İstanbul 14th High Criminal Court on 3 April 2019, and the sentence was deferred. Çaralan’s lawyers then took the case to the Constitutional Court.

Reviewing the application, the Constitutional Court ruled that Çaralan’s freedom of expression had been violated, and sent the case file to the court of first instance.