Expression Interrupted

Journalists and academics bear the brunt of the massive crackdown on freedom of expression in Turkey. Scores of them are currently subject to criminal investigations or behind bars. This website is dedicated to tracking the legal process against them.

Freedom of Expression and the Press in Turkey - 333

Freedom of Expression and the Press in Turkey - 333

Journalist Güngör Arslan murdered; Vildan Atmaca's detention period extended; prosecution appeals against acquittal of four journalists in “RedHack case”; Ayşenur Arslan’s Halk TV show suspended by RTÜK

 

Journalist Güngör Arslan killed in armed attack

 

Güngör Arslan, the publisher and chief editor of the local news portal Ses Kocaeli, was attacked by a gunman at his workplace on 19 February 2022. Arslan died at the Kocaeli State Hospital Saturday afternoon shortly after being hospitalized with serious injuries from two gunshots he received on his right leg and another on his chest.

 

The perpetrator was detained, and an investigation was launched into the attack, according to a statement issued by Kocaeli Governor’s Office on Saturday.

 

Ses Kocaeli newspaper was targeted in a previous attack in April 2020. No one was hurt but the windows of the building were broken as a result of nine shots fired.

 

Journalist Vildan Atmaca's detention period extended

 

Freelance journalist Vildan Atmaca was taken into custody along with local politicians from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) in dawn raids carried out in Istanbul’s Esenyurt district on 15 February 2022.

 

Atmaca, a former reporter for the newspaper Şujin, which was closed under a Statutory Decree (KHK), was detained within the scope of an investigation that had reportedly been launched due to her news coverage between 2015 and 2016. Those detained were taken to the Istanbul Police Department and were imposed a 24-hour restriction on access to a lawyer.

 

According to media reports on 18 February, a confidentiality order was issued on the file against 12 people, including Atmaca, and their detention period was extended for four days.

 

Prosecutor objects to acquittals in “RedHack case”

 

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has objected to the acquittal judgments rendered for four journalists in the “RedHack trial,” which concluded in December 2021.

 

Journalists Ömer Çelik, Metin Yoksu, Tunca Öğreten, Eray Sargın, Derya Okatan and Mahir Kanaat were charged with “terrorism propaganda” (TMK 7/2), “hindrance or destruction of a data processing system” (TCK 244/2), “committing crimes on behalf of a terrorist organization without being its member” (TCK 220/6) and “membership in a terrorist organization” (TCK 314/2) for news coverage of former Minister Berat Albayrak’s emails leaked by RedHack. Okatan was acquitted of all charges while Öğreten, Yoksu, Çelik, Sargın and Kanaat were each sentenced to 1 year and 8 months in prison for “illegally obtaining or disseminating personal data” (TCK 136/1) and acquitted of the rest of the charges.

 

Appealing against the acquittal decisions for Okatan, Çelik, Yoksu and Sargın, the prosecutor argued that Okatan and three other journalists should be sentenced for “terrorism propaganda.”

 

Albayrak’s lawyer Ahmet Özel appealed against Okatan’s acquittal in January, without waiting for the trial court’s reasoned judgment in writing to be issued.

 

“Disinformation bill” may soon be introduced in Parliament

 

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) may soon introduce its “disinformation” bill in the Parliament, according to a recent statement by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

 

DW Türkçe reported on 17 February 2022 that Erdoğan stated that the final meeting on the draft law would be held on 21 February. According to Erdoğan's statements, the bill will address three issues: “The systematic spread of fake news will be prevented,” “new regulations will be introduced, and new responsibilities will be brought to social network providers, social media companies and users against disinformation activities carried out on social media” and “news portals will be imposed new responsibilities in order to prevent disinformation.”

 

MA reporter Zeynep Durgut released after four days in custody

 

Mezopotamya news agency (MA) reporter Zeynep Durgut was taken into custody in a police raid on her house in Şırnak on 14 February 2022 as part of an investigation launched by the Şırnak Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. The grounds for Durgut’s detention were not disclosed due a confidentiality order imposed on the file. Her access to a lawyer was also restricted for 24 hours.

 

Durgut, who was questioned by Cizre Anti-Terror Police on 16 February, was reportedly asked about the news articles she shared on her social media accounts. Durgut was reportedly detained based on statements by a secret witness.

 

The journalist was brought to the Şırnak Courthouse on 17 February. The prosecutor who took her statement referred Durgut to a criminal judgeship of peace, requesting her release under judicial control measures. The court released Durgut under an international travel ban.

 

Durgut was acquitted of “membership in a terrorist organization” charge earlier last month in a trial in which she and four other journalists were accused based on their work and the media institutions they work for.

 

Dokuz8Haber Editor-in-Chief Gökhan Biçici acquitted

 

Dokuz8HABER Editor-in-Chief Gökhan Biçici appeared before the Istanbul 8th Criminal Court of First Instance on 17 February 2022 for the second and final hearing of his trial on the charge of “insulting the president” under Article 299 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK). The accusation stemmed from a report about a statement by Anonymous, published on Dokuz8HABER on 1 June 2020.

 

Ruling that Biçici did not act with criminal intent and that therefore the elements of the alleged crime did not occur, the court acquitted the journalist.

 

Our report about the hearing can be accessed here.

 

Retrial of Özgürlükçü Demokrasi journalists to continue in April

 

The retrial of the former publisher, editors and staff members of the pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgürlükçü Demokrasi on “terror” charges resumed in Istanbul 23rd High Criminal Court on 17 February 2022.

 

The newspaper was closed under a statutory decree in 2018. The prison sentences given in 2019 to its former editors Hicran Urun, Mehmet Ali Çelebi, Reyhan Hacıoğlu and İshak Yasul and publisher İhsan Yaşar, and the acquittals of staffers Mizgin Fendik and Pınar Tarlak were reversed in March 2021 by a regional court of justice, which ordered a retrial.

 

The journalists on trial did not attend the hearing. They were represented by their lawyer, Özcan Kılıç. Kılıç demanded that the court lift the travel ban imposed on his clients. Rejecting the request, the court decided to send the file to the prosecutor's office for the drafting of the final opinion and adjourned the case until 7 April 2022.

 

In the original trial, editors Hicran Urun, Mehmet Ali Çelebi and Reyhan Hacıoğlu were sentenced for “aiding a terrorist organization without being a member” (TCK 220/7), while Managing Editor İshak Yasul was sentenced for “terrorism propaganda” (TMK 7/2) and “aiding a terrorist organization without being a member.”

 

File against Atilla Taş separated, retrial of seven journalists adjourned until June

 

The fourth hearing of the retrial of journalists Ahmet Memiş, Ali Akkuş, Cemal Azmi Kalyoncu, Gökçe Fırat Çulhaoğlu, Ünal Tanık, Yakup Çetin, Yetkin Yıldız and musician Atilla Taş, who was a newspaper columnist between 2015 and 2016, was held in Istanbul 25th High Criminal Court on 17 February 2022.

 

All eight were convicted in 2018 in the case publicly known as the “FETÖ media trial,” in which 26 defendants faced “terror” charges over alleged ties with the Fethullah Gülen network. Their sentences were quashed in 2020 by the Supreme Court of Appeals, which held that Memiş, Kalyoncu, Çulhaoğlu, Tanık, Çetin and Yıldız should be charged with “aiding a terrorist organization without being its member” (TCK 220/7) and that Taş, who was sentenced for “aiding a terrorist organization,” should be charged with “insulting the president” (TCK 299) and “publicly degrading the institutions and organs of the state” (TCK 301).

 

In its interim ruling, the court decided to separate the file against Taş and adjourned the retrial until 22 June 2022.

 

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

 

Trial against Şerife Oruç to continue in March

 

The 19th hearing of former Dicle News Agency (DİHA) reporter Şerife Oruç’s trial on the charge of “membership in a terrorist organization” was held at the Batman 2nd High Criminal Court on 17 February 2022.

 

Oruç did not attend the hearing, in which she was represented by her lawyer Mesut Aydın.

 

The court rejected the request for the witness who testified against Oruç during the investigation to be heard in court. Deciding to inquire of the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office about the outcome of a separate investigation initiated against Oruç, the court adjourned the case until 24 March 2022.

 

İHD Co-Chair Eren Keskin acquitted at her first hearing

 

Human Rights Association (İHD) Co-Chair Eren Keskin appeared before the Tunceli 2nd High Criminal Court on 17 February 2022 for the first hearing of a trial in which she was charged with “terrorism propaganda.” The accusation stemmed from Keskin’s remarks during a panel discussion held in Tunceli in 2019. At the end of the hearing, the court acquitted Keskin.

 

Retrial of Barış Barıştıran adjourned until May

 

The retrial of Barış Barıştıran, the former executive director of Özgür Gün TV, which was closed under a statutory decree, continued at Diyarbakır 8th High Criminal Court on 17 February 2022.

 

Barıştıran is charged with “terrorism propaganda” for airing a congress by the Democratic Society Congress (DTK) in 2016. The journalist was acquitted in March 2021. After the prosecutor objected to his acquittal, the 2nd Criminal Chamber of the Diyarbakır Regional Court of Justice reversed the trial court’s judgment in September 2021 and remanded the file to the trial court.

 

Barıştıran did not attend the hearing. His lawyer, Resul Temur, was present in the courtroom.

 

During the previous hearing, the court had decided to inquire of the Diyarbakır Police Department about whether the congress was broadcast on Özgür Gün TV in parts or as a whole. The response the court received from the police department contained transcriptions of speeches from a segment of the broadcast.

 

Deciding that the response from the police department was insufficient, the court ruled to inquire of the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) about whether the congress was broadcast in parts or as a whole, and adjourned the case until 25 May 2022.

 

Rasim Ozan Kütahyalı ordered to pay compensation

 

Rasim Ozan Kütahyalı was ordered to pay TL 12,500 in non-pecuniary damages in a compensation case filed by former CHP Deputy Dursun Çiçek over his remarks in an article published in Güneş newspaper on 17 June 2020 and in a program that aired on Beyaz TV.

 

Media reported on 17 February 2022 that in the final hearing of the case, heard by the Istanbul 11th Civil Court of First Instance, the court partially accepted Çiçek’s compensation claim, who was seeking TL 100,000 in non-pecuniary damages. Çiçek’s petition stated that Kütahyalı’s claim that Mehmet Partigöç, one of the key figures of the 15 July 2016 coup attempt, was a close friend of Çiçek’s, was unfounded, and that Kütahyalı had slandered and insulted him.

 

Halk TV given five-time broadcast suspension penalty

 

The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) imposed a five-time broadcast suspension penalty on Halk TV due to program host Ayşenur Arslan’s remarks about the Cypriot resistance organization TMT in a recent episode of her show “Medya Mahallesi” on the grounds that Arslan’s remarks “insulted the national and moral values ​​of the society.”

 

During its weekly regular meeting held on 16 February 2022, RTÜK also imposed a 5 percent administrative fine on Halk TV for the same show. The broadcasting watchdog also fined KRT TV, Flash TV and TGRT Haber networks during the same meeting.

 

Trial against Hayko Bağdat adjourned until June

 

A trial in which journalist Hayko Bağdat was charged with “insulting the president” (TCK 299) and “inciting hatred and hostility” (TCK 216/1) resumed on 16 February 2022 at the Istanbul 50th Criminal Court of First Instance.

 

Bağdat, who lives abroad, did not attend. His lawyer Merve Kurhan was present at the hearing. Reiterating their defense statement in writing submitted to the court, the lawyer requested acquittal for Bağdat.

 

The court decided to wait for the response to rogatory letters issued for Bağdat’s statement to be taken in his current country of residence and adjourned the case until 1 June 2022.

 

Indictment against Sedef Kabaş accepted, top court rejects request for her release

 

The indictment issued last week against jailed journalist Sedef Kabaş was accepted by a criminal court of first instance in Istanbul on 15 February 2022. The 36th Criminal Court of First Instance ruled for the continuation of Kabaş’s pre-trial detention and set 11 March 2022 as the date for her first hearing, lawyer Uğur Poyraz said on Twitter.

 

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. The additional charge of “insulting a public official” stems from her comments about Interior Minister Soylu and Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Karaismailoğlu during the same TV show.

 

In a related development, the Constitutional Court rejected the request for the journalist’s immediate release under precautionary measures in an individual application filed by Kabaş’s lawyers earlier this month. The Second Section of the Court “concluded that the conditions requiring an injunction … were not present,” the state-run Anadolu news agency reported on 16 February.

 

The claims regarding violations of the right to liberty and security and freedom of expression and freedom of the press in the application filed on behalf of Kabaş will be reviewed later, when the top court decides on the merits of the application, Anadolu reported.

 

Barış Pehlivan, Murat Ağırel and Hülya Kılınç briefly return to prison

 

Journalists Barış Pehlivan, Murat Ağırel and Hülya Kılınç were arrested and sent to prison on 15 February 2022 following the finalization of the sentences they were given in 2020 for their reports and social media posts about the funeral of a National Intelligence Organization (MİT) operative who was killed in Libya.

 

Pehlivan and Ağırel, who were sent to the Silivri Prison in Istanbul, were released under probation later on Tuesday while Kılınç, who was sent to the Manisa E Type Closed Prison, spent the night behind bars before being freed under probation the next day.

 

Pehlivan, Ağırel and Kılınç’s brief arrests were based on a recent judgment by the 3rd Criminal Chamber of the Istanbul Regional Court of Justice, which upheld and finalized the sentences and acquittal decisions rendered by the trial court in September 2020.

 

Kılınç and Pehlivan were sentenced to 3 years and 9 months while Ağırel and their co-defendants Ferhat Çelik and Aydın Keser were each sentenced to 4 years, 8 months and 7 days in prison for “exposing the contents of documents and information concerning intelligence operations” (Article 27 of MİT Law) at the final hearing of their trial. The journalists were acquitted of “disclosing classified information related to the security of the state” (TCK 329).

 

For further information see our report.

 

Journalist Zeynep Kuray blocked from covering demonstration

 

Journalist Zeynep Kuray was prevented from covering a demonstration by HDP Istanbul Provincial Branch in Istanbul’s Şirinevler Square on 15 February 2022. Police cordoned off the square before the demonstration and Kuray was assaulted and forcibly removed from the area, according to a post Etkin news agency (ETHA) shared on Twitter.

 

Trial against İsminaz Temel and Havva Cuştan to continue in June

 

The 15th hearing of a trial in which Etkin News Agency (ETHA) editor İsminaz Temel and reporter Havva Çuştan are among 23 defendants, including members and executives of the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP), charged with “membership in a terrorist organization” and “terrorism propaganda” was held at Istanbul 27th High Criminal Court on 15 February 2022.

 

P24 monitored the hearing, which was attended by some of the defendants and the lawyers representing the defendants. Temel and Cuştan did not attend. The lawyers requested the lifting of the judicial control measures imposed on their clients.

 

The court ruled for the continuation of the judicial control measures imposed on the defendants. Also ruling to hear two witnesses during the next hearing, the court postponed the case until 2 June 2022.

 

Caner Taşpınar acquitted

 

The final hearing of Odatv editor Caner Taşpınar’s trial on the charge of “insult” (TCK 125) for his 2020 book “Damat: Fethullahçıların AKP'li Kayınpederleri” (The groom: The AKP-member fathers-in-law of Fethullahists) was held at the Istanbul 11th Criminal Court of First Instance on 15 February 2022.

 

Issuing its judgment at the end of the hearing, the court acquitted Taşpınar on the grounds that the legal elements of the alleged offense were not present.

 

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

 

Court issues arrest warrant for Rojin Altay

 

The third hearing of a trial in which journalist Rojin Altay and three other people are charged with “violating the Law on Assemblies and Public Demonstrations” was held at Istanbul’s Anadolu 1st Juvenile Court. Altay was detained while covering a protest in Istanbul’s Kadıköy district in February 2021. The journalist and her lawyers did not attend the hearing. Ruling to issue an arrest warrant for Altay for her statement to be taken, the court adjourned the case until 11 May 2022.

 

Journalists Sonbahar and Karakurt acquitted

 

The final hearing of a trial in which journalists Sema Karakurt and Eylem Sonbahar were charged with “violating the Law on Assemblies and Public Demonstrations” was held at the Antalya 7th Criminal Court of First Instance on 15 February 2022.

 

Karakurt, a former reporter for Antalya Sokakları, and Dokuz8HABER reporter Sonbahar were on trial for covering demonstrations against the G20 summit held in Antalya on 15-16 November 2015.

 

The prosecutor reiterated their final opinion, in which they demanded acquittal for 13 defendants, including Karakurt and Sonbahar, on the grounds that the protest was not illegal and that no calls for dispersal had been made by law enforcement officers.

 

Delivering its judgment, the court acquitted all 13 defendants on the grounds that the act was not defined as a crime in the law. The file against two other defendants in the case was separated during the previous hearing.

 

Local newspaper in Mersin threatened, attacked

 

Staff members of local newspaper Mersin Haberci were threatened by a group wearing masks and hoodies that came in front of the newspaper on 14 February 2022. The group claimed the newspaper was producing “fake news.” They chanted slogans, saying “This is just the beginning.”

 

On 15 February, a group of dozens of people again gathered in front of the newspaper and this time they threw eggs and paint at the journalists and threatened that they would come back with 3,000 people the next day.

 

Following the incident, police were dispatched to the scene, and an investigation was launched. Eighteen people were detained by the police. All 18 were released after being prosecuted on charges of “threat,” “insult” and “damaging property.”

 

Oktay Candemir’s confiscated phone not returned despite acquittal

 

Journalist Oktay Candemir stated that his phone, which had been confiscated as part of a case in which he was acquitted four months ago, has still not been returned. Candemir wrote on his Twitter account on 13 February that he applied to the property and evidence office at the Van Courthouse, but he was told by the police that they had not been given any other equipment apart from several CDs.

 

Decision blocking access to Xwebun website revoked

 

The Ankara 3rd Criminal Judgeship of Peace vacated an access block ruling rendered on 28 January 2022 for the weekly Kurdish-language newspaper Xwebûn’s website upon a decision by the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK).

 

Ruling on the objection filed on 4 February by the newspaper’s lawyer Resul Temur on 8 February, the Ankara 3rd Criminal Judgeship of Peace reversed the Ankara 2nd Criminal Judgeship of Peace decision and sent its judgment to the BTK.

 

At least 58 journalists and media workers in prison

 

As of 19 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.

 

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