Sedef Kabaş faces two “insult” charges; Selda Manduz sentenced for “propaganda”; Deniz Yücel fined for “insult”; RTÜK says VoA, DW, Euronews should apply for broadcasting licenses; prosecutor seeks sentence for 4 journalists in case filed by Bilal Erdoğan; appellate court upholds Mazlum Dolan’s sentence

 

Jailed journalist Sedef Kabaş faces two “insult” charges in indictment

 

Journalist Sedef Kabaş, who has been jailed pending trial since 22 January for her remarks during a recent political discussion show on TELE1, is charged with “insulting the president” (TCK 299) and “insulting a public official” (TCK 125) in the indictment against her, which was issued on 11 February 2022.

 

The indictment sought up to 7 years in prison for Kabaş on the charge of “systematically insulting the president” and an additional sentence of up to 4 years and 8 months on the charge of “insulting a public official” for her comments about Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu and Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Adil Karaismailoğlu.

 

Earlier this week, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's lawyers filed a separate compensation case against Kabaş and Fırat Sakar, the executive board chair of the company that owns TELE1, seeking TL 250,000 in non-pecuniary damages for Kabaş’s on-air comments. Kabaş's lawyer Uğur Poyraz announced on his Twitter account on 8 February 2022 that the petition for the compensation case had been served. The petition was submitted to the Istanbul 20th Civil Court of First Instance by Erdoğan’s lawyers.

 

MA Editor Ferhat Çelik faces investigation over 2021 report

 

A new investigation has been launched against Mezopotamya news agency (MA) Managing Editor Ferhat Çelik over a report dispatched by the agency in October 2021.

 

Çelik gave his statement in connection with the investigation conducted by the Mardin Chief Public Prosecutor's Office at the Taksim Police Station, MA reported on 11 February 2022. The journalist said during his statement that their report was based on camera footage and that the same footage was also included in a file launched by the prosecutor’s office regarding the incident.

 

İz Gazete editor Yağız Barut summoned to prosecutor’s office

 

Journalist Yağız Barut, the managing editor of the Izmir-based newspaper İz Gazete, was summoned to give his statement to a prosecutor upon a complaint filed by a judge who is on trial for alleged domestic violence. Barut will give his statement regarding a report on the allegation that the judge did not comply with a restraining order issued by a court. Barut is set to give his statement on 16 February.

 

AKP and its allies file criminal complaints against Ayşenur Arslan

 

Lawyers representing the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its allies MHP and BBP filed separate criminal complaints with the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on 11 February 2022 against Halk TV programmer Ayşenur Arslan for her comments regarding the Turkish Cypriot resistance organization TMT in a recent episode of her show “Medya Mahallesi.”

 

The petitions demanded that the prosecutor’s office initiate an investigation against Arslan pursuant to Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) for allegedly “insulting the Turkish nation, the State of the Republic of Turkey, the institutions and organs of the state,” the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

 

Separately, Ebubekir Şahin, the president of the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), announced that an investigation has been initiated against Halk TV due to Arslan’s on-air comments.

 

Novelist, former Özgür Gündem columnist Aslı Erdoğan acquitted

 

The second hearing of the retrial of novelist and former Özgür Gündem editorial advisory board member Aslı Erdoğan on the charge of “terrorism propaganda” was held at Istanbul 23rd High Criminal Court on 10 February 2022.

 

The retrial was ordered by the 27th Criminal Chamber of the Istanbul Regional Court of Justice, which reversed the trial court’s decision to drop the “propaganda” charge against Erdoğan in the “Özgür Gündem main trial” on the grounds that the four-month statute of limitations prescribed in Article 26 of Turkey’s Press Law would not be applicable in Erdoğan’s case since the articles she stood trial for have also been published online.

 

Delivering its verdict, the court acquitted Erdoğan on the grounds that her articles that were also published in the now-defunct newspaper’s online edition could not be found.

 

A report about the hearing, monitored by P24, can be accessed here.

 

ETHA reporter Ali Sönmez Kayar’s trial adjourned until May

 

A trial in which Etkin News Agency (ETHA) reporter Ali Sönmez Kayar is among nine defendants charged with “membership in a terrorist organization” resumed on 10 February 2022 at the 32nd High Criminal Court of Istanbul.

 

P24 monitored the hearing. Some of the defendants and their lawyers were present. The lawyers demanded the lifting of their clients’ travel bans.

 

The prosecutor asked the court to reject the requests for the lifting of the judicial control measures imposed on the defendants. Ruling for the continuation of the travel ban imposed on the defendants, the court adjourned the case until 17 May 2022.

 

Trial against Sonya Bayık adjourned until June

 

The latest hearing of a trial in which Jiyan Haber editor Sonya Bayık and two other people are charged with “violating the Law on Assemblies and Demonstrations” was held at the Batman 1st Criminal Court of First Instance on 10 February 2022.

 

Bayık and her co-defendants were among those detained on 12 June 2019 during a demonstration against the flooding of the ancient town of Hasankeyf near Batman. Bayık was there to cover the demonstration. The file against Bayık and her two co-defendants was separated from the main file against 28 other defendants during the second hearing of the case.

 

The defendants did not attend the hearing. Their lawyer İlyas Tarım was present. At the previous hearing, upon the request of the lawyers, the footage of the police intervention was sent to the Van Gendarmerie Criminal Branch to be examined. Since the Van Gendarmerie Criminal Branch did not examine the footage, the court decided to request a transcript of the footage from the Batman Police Department and adjourned the trial until 28 June 2022.

 

Journalist İsmail Arı says he was threatened by AKP MP

 

İsmail Arı, a reporter for BirGün newspaper, announced that he was threatened by AKP MP Ahmet Akay, whom he called to seek his comments regarding a news story.

 

Revealing the incident on his Twitter account on 10 February 2022, Arı wrote: “I have accessed a video showing AKP Urfa Deputy Ahmet Akay’s lawyer with an illegal gun. I called AKP Deputy Akay to ask him if he had any comments. Akay openly threatened me, saying, ‘I will devastate you if I find you.’ Although I told Akay that he was threatening me, he continued swearing and insulting me.”

 

Columnist Mehmet Şahin sentenced for “membership in a terrorist organization”

 

The final hearing of columnist Mehmet Şahin’s trial on the charge of “establishing and managing a criminal organization” on the grounds of his alleged involvement in the Democratic Society Congress (DTK) and public statements he had taken part in between the years 2010 and 2013 was held at Diyarbakır 5th High Criminal Court on 10 February 2022.

 

Şahin submitted his written statement in response to the prosecutor’s final opinion, which demanded his conviction on the charge of “membership in a terrorist organization.” Şahin said that no information or documents about him have been found during the investigations conducted in 2010 and 2014 against the DTK or in searches conducted by the police in 2016 and 2018. Şahin’s lawyer Resul Temur added that the evidence against his client in the file only comprised wiretap recordings and technical surveillance.

 

Announcing its judgment after hearing Şahin and his lawyer’s statements, the court sentenced Şahin to 6 years and 3 months in prison on the charge of “membership in a terrorist organization.”

 

RTÜK decides VoA, DW and Euronews should apply for broadcasting license

 

The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) decided by a majority at its regular meeting held on 9 February 2022 that three international media outlets that have Turkish services, Voice of America, DW and Euronews, should apply for broadcasting licenses.

 

RTÜK member İlhan Taşçı, who was elected from the opposition CHP quota, announced the decision on his social media account. He said that the decision marked the first time RTÜK has used its regulatory authority on international news media.

 

RTÜK Vice President İbrahim Uslu confirmed the decision. Speaking to German news agency dpa, Uslu said news outlets that do not apply for a license will not be accessible in Turkey. Uslu said that the decision will be published on RTÜK’s website in about a week or 10 days, after which the said news organizations will have 72 hours to apply for broadcasting licenses.

 

RTÜK’s decision is based on a regulation that came into force in August 2019. The regulation stipulates that online television and on-demand broadcasts obtain a broadcast license from RTÜK. News outlets will be required to obtain licenses because of news videos featured on their websites.

 

“Boğaziçi exhibition trial” to continue in March

 

The fourth hearing of a trial in which seven university students are charged with “inciting hatred and hostility” under Article 216/1 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) for taking part in protests against Boğaziçi University’s former rector who was appointed by President Erdoğan, was held at the Istanbul 21st Criminal Court of First Instance on 9 February 2022.

 

The indictment, issued on 24 February 2021, accuses all seven students over a depiction of the Kaaba in an exhibition put together on 29 January 2021 on the Boğaziçi campus as part of protests against the appointment of former Rector Melih Bulu.

 

P24 monitored the hearing, which was attended by the lawyers representing the students on trial.

 

During the hearing held in November 2021, the court ruled that the police conduct an open-source research and draft a report containing online reactions against the image in question. The judge said the report submitted by the police was incomplete. The defendants’ lawyers requested that the court demand a new report.

 

Doğu Demirtaş's lawyer requested that the security guards in the footage be identified.

 

Ruling to request a new report from the police and rejecting Demirtaş’s lawyer’s request, the court adjourned the case until 30 March 2022.

 

Journalist Ruken Demir acquitted of “terror” charge

 

The ninth and final hearing of journalist Ruken Demir’s trial on the charge of “membership in a terrorist organization” was held at the Izmir 19th High Criminal Court on 9 February 2022.

 

Demir and her lawyer Zafer İncin were present at the hearing. In her defense statement, Demir rejected the accusation. Stating that she was being accused over her journalistic activities, Demir demanded her acquittal.

 

Demir’s lawyer addressed the court next. Stating that the digital equipment confiscated during the search in the office where Demir was taken into custody did not belong to the journalist, the lawyer said that no incriminating evidence was found against his client during the investigation. Recalling the acquittal judgment rendered in the case against journalist Melike Aydın, who was detained together with Demir, the lawyer said that they did not accept the prosecutor’s final opinion seeking conviction for Demir despite making an assessment similar to that in the case against Aydın. İncin demanded Demir’s acquittal.

 

Issuing its verdict after hearing Demir and her lawyer’s statements, the court acquitted the journalist on the grounds of lack of evidence.

 

Trial against Cengiz Çandar and Kemal Işıktaş to continue in April

 

The fourth hearing of journalist Cengiz Çandar and activist Kemal Işıktaş’s trial on the charge of “praising an offense or an offender” (TCK 215) based on their social media posts dated May 2017, was held at the Istanbul 30th Criminal Court of First Instance on 8 February 2022.

 

P24 monitored the hearing. Çandar’s lawyer Merve Kurhan was in attendance. The lawyer requested that the court wait for the submission of her client’s defense statement to be taken through rogatory letters in his current country of residence. Accepting the request, the court set 19 April 2022 as the date for the next hearing.

 

Çandar and Işıktaş are on trial for their social media posts about Ayşe Deniz Karacagil, who died in 2017 in the Syrian city of Raqqa after joining the PKK. The indictment alleges that Çandar and Işıktaş’s posts about Karacagil involved “clear and imminent threat to public order.”

 

Prosecutor demands sentence for 4 former Cumhuriyet journalists

 

The second hearing of a trial in which former Cumhuriyet reporter Hazal Ocak and the newspaper’s former editors Serkan Ozan, Olcay Büyüktaş Akça and Ozan Yurtoğlu are charged with “insult” (TCK 125) and “libel” (TCK 267) was held at Istanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance on 8 February 2022.

 

The charges stem from two articles about public tenders won by a businessman who was allegedly a classmate of President Erdoğan’s son, Bilal Erdoğan.

 

Submitting their final opinion, the prosecutor demanded that all four journalists be sentenced as charged. Granting the defendants time for their statements, the court adjourned the case until 7 June 2022.

 

Our report about the hearing can be accessed here.

 

Compensation case against Hazal Ocak to continue in June

 

The fourth hearing of a compensation case filed by former Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak against journalist Hazal Ocak was held at Istanbul 8th Civil Court on 8 February 2022. Albayrak is seeking TL 200,000 in damages over Ocak’s report titled “Damat İşi Biliyor,” published in Cumhuriyet daily on 20 January 2020.

 

P24 was in the courthouse to monitor the hearing. However, citing Covid-19 measures, the court did not allow spectators in the courtroom.

 

Ocak’s lawyer Öner Bulut reminded that his client was acquitted of “insulting a public official” (TCK 125) charge in October 2020 in a case filed over the same report. Noting that the acquittal judgment is still pending appeal, Bulut requested that the court wait for the finalization of Ocak’s acquittal.

 

Ruling to wait for the acquittal judgment rendered by Istanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance to become final, the court adjourned the compensation case until 21 June 2022.

 

Journalist Deniz Yücel fined for “insult”

 

The final hearing of Die Welt correspondent Deniz Yücel’s trial on the charge of “insulting a public official” (TCK 125) for a Twitter post was held at the Istanbul 24th Criminal Court of First Instance on 8 February 2022. The accusation stemmed from a remark about former Istanbul Deputy Chief Public Prosecutor Hasan Yılmaz, who is currently the deputy minister of justice.

 

After hearing the final statements by Yücel’s lawyers, the court delivered its judgment and sentenced the journalist to a judicial fine of TL 7,080. The court did not defer the sentence.

A report on the hearing, monitored by P24, can be accessed here.

 

Selda Manduz sentenced for “propaganda” at the first hearing of her retrial

 

The first hearing of journalist Selda Manduz’s retrial on the charge of “terrorism propaganda” was held at Kars 2nd High Criminal Court on 8 February 2022. The acquittal judgment rendered in the original trial was reversed by a regional court of appeals. The accusation stems from reports and news photos Manudz shared on social media.

 

Manduz and her lawyers attended the hearing. In her defense statement, Manduz rejected the accusation and requested to be acquitted. The court delivered its judgment at the first hearing, sentencing the journalist to 1 year and 6 months in prison for “terrorism propaganda.” The sentence was deferred. The court also ruled that Manduz’s confiscated equipment be returned to the journalist.

 

Trial against İdris Yayla adjourned until June, awaiting expert report

 

The ninth hearing of a trial in which journalist İdris Yayla is among 28 defendants, including jailed Kurdish politician Sebahat Tuncel, charged with “violating the Law on Assemblies and Demonstrations” was held at the Batman 1st Criminal Court of First Instance on 8 February 2022.

 

Yayla, the publisher of the Batman-based news portal Jiyan Haber, is on trial for covering a 2016 demonstration in Batman province against the appointment of trustees by the government to replace the elected mayors in the region.

 

The defendants did not attend the hearing. They were represented by their lawyers. In its interim ruling, the court decided to have the security camera footage examined by an expert to determine whether the defendants were in the area where the demonstration was organized and whether police had warned the protesters to disperse. The court adjourned the case until 2 June 2022.

 

Writer Ömer Ağın acquitted

 

The final hearing of writer Ömer Ağın’s trial on the charge of “membership in a terrorist organization” for allegedly being a Democratic Society Congress (DTK) delegate was held at Diyarbakır 5th High Criminal Court on 8 February 2022.

 

Presenting their final opinion during the hearing, the prosecutor demanded that Ağın be sentenced as charged. In her statement in response to the prosecutor’s final opinion, lawyer Feride Laçin stated that her client attended DTK meetings as a journalist and a writer for news coverage and requested her client’s acquittal. Delivering its judgment at the end of the hearing, the court acquitted Ağın.

 

Top court rules Cemil Uğur’s arrest violated right to liberty and security

 

The Constitutional Court ruled that the detention of journalist Cemil Uğur following his coverage of allegations that two locals were tortured by soldiers in Van violated the right ot liberty and security. The Constitutional Court’s judgment dated 18 January 2022 was published on the court’s website this week.

 

Ruling unanimously that Uğur’s unlawful arrest violated the right to liberty and security, enshrined in Article 19 of the Constitution, the top court ordered that the journalist be paid TL 67,500 in compensation for non-pecuniary damages.

 

Uğur was taken into custody on 6 October 2020 and was arrested along with three other journalists on the charge of “membership in a terrorist organization” after three days of detention. He and his co-defendants were released pending trial under judicial control measures at their first hearing held on 2 April 2021. The Van 5th High Criminal Court acquitted the journalists at their fourth hearing, held on 6 January 2022.

 

Access to Gazete Yolculuk website blocked by court

 

Access to Gazete Yolculuk news portal was blocked by a decision of the Hatay 1st Criminal Court of Peace dated 8 February 2022. The grounds for the decision were not disclosed.

 

Journalist Pınar Gayıp faces two new investigations

 

Pınar Gayıp, a reporter for Etkin News Agency (ETHA), is facing two new investigations -- one by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office and the other by the Istanbul Police Department -- for her work as a journalist and her social media posts.

 

In the investigation launched by the Terrorism and Organized Crime Bureau under the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, Gayıp’s social media posts about the police brutality AFP photojournalist Bülent Kılıç suffered during news coverage; the forest fires that raged across Turkey’s southwestern regions in the summer of 2021; an interview she had made on the anniversary of 2015’s deadly Suruç bombing; and posts commemorating 33 people who lost their lives in the Suruç attack are subject to investigation. Gayıp gave her statement to the prosecutor conducting the investigation on 7 February 2022.

 

In the investigation conducted by the police, Gayıp used her right to remain silent. Gayıp’s lawyer Özge Büşra Boyoğlu stated that illegal evidence was collected in the investigation conducted by the police and that there was no warrant for a police investigation.

 

Journalist Nurcan Yalçın released under judicial control measures

 

Journalist Nurcan Yalçın, who was detained in a police raid on her home in Diyarbakır on 4 February 2022, was brought to Diyarbakır Courthouse on 7 February after the police took her statement late on 6 February. Yalçın’s access to a lawyer was initially restricted for 24 hours and later a confidentiality order was imposed on her file.

 

At the courthouse, the prosecutor who questioned Yalçın referred the journalist to a criminal judgeship of peace, demanding her arrest. The court released Yalçın under judicial supervision measures. Yalçın is reportedly accused due to news videos featuring interviews made before the curfews began in Diyarbakır’s Sur district in 2015.

 

Court reverses “Bakur” co-directors’ sentences, orders retrial

 

A regional court of appeals has overturned the prison sentences given to filmmaker Çayan Demirel and journalist Ertuğrul Mavioğlu, the co-directors of the movie “Bakur” (North), on the charge of “terrorism propaganda.”

 

Media reported on 7 February 2022 that the case has been remanded to the Batman 2nd High Criminal Court for a retrial. The appellate court reportedly reversed the trial court’s judgment on the grounds that the sentences given to Demirel and Mavioğlu were too heavy and that they were granted no reductions.

 

At the final hearing of their trial, held on 18 July 2019, the court had delivered its judgment in the absence of Demirel and Mavioğlu and sentenced each to 4.5 years in prison for “terror propaganda.”

 

Appellate upholds journalist Mazlum Dolan’s sentence

 

The 2nd Criminal Chamber of the Diyarbakır Regional Court of Justice rejected the appeal against the 7.5-year prison sentence given to journalist Mazlum Dolan on the charge of “membership in a terrorist organization,” thus upholding the sentence. The appellate court rendered its judgment on 4 February 2022.

 

Dolan, a former reporter for Dicle News Agency (DİHA), which was closed in 2016 under a statutory decree (KHK), was stranded in Diyarbakır’s Sur district after a curfew was declared by the government in 2015. Dolan was evacuated on 19 February 2016 and arrested along with civilians who also got stranded in Sur. Dolan was released after spending 15 months in pre-trial detention.

 

At the final hearing of his trial, held at Diyarbakır 5th High Criminal Court on 29 December 2020, the journalist was sentenced to 7 years and 6 months in prison for “membership in a terrorist organization” on the grounds that he had “contributed to broadcasts against the state through his reports and footage.”

 

Investigation launched against posts about Erdoğans testing positive for Covid-19

 

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation into social media posts about President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s coronavirus test result.

 

The prosecutor’s office had arrest warrants issued for eight social media users, who were among 31 social media users identified by the police. They were among 36 social media accounts that allegedly “insulted” the President and his wife. Four of these people were detained by the police. The police also identified that the owner of an account allegedly belonging to former national athlete Derya Büyükuncu was abroad. Media reported on 7 February 2022 that an arrest warrant was issued for Büyükuncu for a post shared on that account.

 

At least 58 journalists and media workers in prison

 

Expression Interrupted has updated its list of journalists in prison upon discovering that Ali Yüce and Yılmaz Kahraman have been released. Accordingly, as of 12 February 2022, at least 58 journalists and media workers are in prison in Turkey, either in pre-trial detention or serving a sentence.

 

The full list can be accessed here.