In the Zaman newspaper retrial, the court has sentenced former contributors Mümtazer Türköne, Şahin Alpay, Ali Bulaç and Ahmet Turan Alkan to a total of 11 years and 3 months of imprisonment for “aiding a terrorist organization without being its member”

TAMER KARALAR, İSTANBUL

The ninth hearing in the retrial of Mümtazer Türköne, Şahin Alpay, Ali Bulaç, Ahmet Turan Alkan and Mehmet Özdemir, whose previous conviction in the daily Zaman trial was overturned by the Supreme Court of Appeals on charges of “aiding a terrorist organization without being its member” was held at the İstanbul 13th High Criminal Court on 28 November 2022. 

Türköne, Alpay, Bulaç, Alkan and their lawyers attended the hearing, which P24 monitored. 

The prosecutor, who repeated their final opinion on the case presented at the hearing on 7 April 2022, demanded conviction for Bulaç, Alpay, Türköne and Alkan of “knowingly and willingly aiding the FETÖ/PYD armed terrorist organization despite not being a part of its hierarchical structure.”

Defending against the opinion, Ali Bulaç said “After being kept waiting in pre-trial detention for 14 months, the first charge pressed against me was ‘Although no elements of crime were found, there is an element of crime in [his] stance. It is not clear to me what this stance is supposed to be, but I have served 22 months in prison for it.” Bulaç added “I was neither the member in a [terrorist] organization, nor have I provided aid. I demand my acquittal.”

Şahin Alpay, who stated he was never a member of any religious congregation said the following in his defense statement: “Since the 1980s, I have written for Cumhuriyet, Sabah and Milliyet. From 2002 onwards, I wrote a column for Zaman three times a week. I wrote for Zaman because I could not get to write for any other newspapers and I needed additional income. Had there been a court ruling establishing that the Gülen movement was a criminal organization, I would not have contributed to Zaman for even another day, I regret writing for Zaman for this reason.”

In his defense statement Mümtazer Türköne emphasized that the crimes leading to his imprisonment consisted of newspaper articles alone and said “The indictment prepared against me was based on 10 newspaper articles. At the first hearing, the number of articles increased to 23. For most of them, just the headlines are cited. The meaning of the word ‘terör’ (“terrorism”) is not well known in Turkey. Its meaning has become blurred with usages such as ‘grocer terrorism,’ ‘fruit and veg’ terrorism. The things I wrote do not constitute a crime, I request my acquittal.” 

Alkan said “Until the coup attempt, I did not know such an organization existed. Had I known I would have left the newspaper. We were slapped with this because of our stance. Suddenly, we found ourselves being called terrorists. Since which date has this organization been in existence?” Alkan continued his defense statement saying, “For years we wrote pieces opposing 27 March and 12 September, why should we have supported [a coup] now? I just want the state to let me be, nothing else. I do not want an apology, but exoneration. I request my acquittal.”

Ali Bulaç’s lawyer Mehmet Ali Devecioğlu said “To undertake a defense, a crime must be imputed, and yet the indictment begins ‘Although there are no elements of crime.’ So, what is the defense to be against then?” 

Şahin Alpay’s lawyer Aynur Tuncel Yazgan requested the acquittal of her client, saying “As my client has in no form included violence in his articles and because it is not the case that he has aided an organization knowingly and willingly.”

Ahmet Turan Alkan’s lawyer Ahmet Çavuş said: “Speaking as a witness, Hüseyin Gülerce also clearly stated that none of the contributors here received directives from headquarters. It is not possible to sentence the defendants here, especially based on the evidence collected after Gülerce’s deposition.”

Mümtazer Türköne’s lawyer stated that there was “not a single piece of evidence” against her client and said: “One needs to view this case free from politics. According to Article 138 of the Constitution, you need to reach a verdict in line with your conscience. There is not a single piece of evidence cited against my client except for his articles. He is charged with aiding the organization, but how ? By writing articles… Writing articles is not a crime.”

The court sentenced Mümtazer Türköne to 45 months of imprisonment and Şahin Alpay, Ali Bulaç and Ahmet Turan Alkan to 30 months of imprisonment each for the crime of “aiding a terrorist organization without being its member.” The court also decided to separate the file of Mehmet Özdemir, who was not detained despite the order for his arrest and to file a new case at the same court.

Background of the case

The verdict for the trial of 11 media workers, including Şahin Alpay, Ali Bulaç, Mümtazer Türköne, Ahmet Turan Alkan, Nuriye Akman and Mustafa Ünal on charges of “membership in a terrorist organization” at the İstanbul 13th High Criminal Court was rendered on 6 July 2018. Şahin Alpay, Ali Bulaç and Ahmet Turan Alkan were sentenced to imprisonment of 8 years and 9 months each, while Mümtazer Türköne and Mustafa Ünal were sentenced to 10 years and 6 months. Mehmet Özdemir was acquitted.

On 11 January 2018, the Constitutional Court ruled that the verdict had violated the right to personal freedom and security and the freedoms of expression and the press. With the courts of first instance not implementing the Constitutional Court's decision, a second application with the Constitutional Court was filed, which resulted in a second ruling establishing violation of the right to personal freedom and security. The court of first instance released the clients the same day on house arrest. The case was also brought before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). On 20 March 2018, the ECtHR decided that the right to personal freedom and security and the freedoms of expression and the press had been violated and ruled for non-pecuniary damages.

Acting as the court of appeals, the 2nd Penal Chamber of the İstanbul Regional Court of Justice approved the local court’s decision on 25 June 2019. The appeals prosecutor had objected against this decision with the Supreme Court of Appeals.

The 16th Criminal Chamber, which oversaw the second appeal, ruled on 24 September 2020 to partially overturn the verdict for some defendants on grounds of inadequate investigation, while partially approving the verdict for some defendants. The retrial of the journalists commenced on 13 April 2021.