Journalists Mehmet Baransu, Yasemin Çongar, Ahmet Altan and Yıldıray Oğur sentenced to a total of 26 years in prison in Taraf case; Ahmet Kanbal given 1 year and 3 months in prison; Namık Koçak acquitted

 

Former Taraf journalists sentenced to 23 years in prison

 

Former executives of the now-defunct Taraf newspaper Ahmet Altan, Yasemin Çongar and Yıldıray Oğur and the jailed reporter Mehmet Baransu were sentenced to a total of 23 years in prison at the end of a long-running trial that was concluded on 4 March 2022.

 

The four journalists were on trial for allegedly acquiring and publishing a confidential war plan called “Egemen (Sovereign) Operation Plan” in the newspaper. Baransu has been in pre-trial detention since March 2015 as part of the case. The first court hearing in the trial was held in 2016.

 

The court brought the case to a close despite the fact that Baransu and his lawyer did not present their final defense statement in response to the charges brought by the prosecution. At the start of the hearing, Baransu and lawyer Çiğdem Koç reiterated several requests they made towards further examination of the evidence and addition of new evidence into the case file. They left the courtroom without presenting their final defense statement as the court rejected those requests.

 

The court then went on to announce its verdict in the long-running case, sentencing Baransu to a total of 13 years on the charges of “obtaining secret documents pertaining to the security of the state” (6 years) and “exposing information pertaining to the security of the state and its political interests” (7 years). The court refused to apply any clause allowing reduction in the sentence. The court also ordered that Baransu remain in pre-trial detention.

 

Former Taraf executives Ahmet Altan, Yasemin Çongar and Yıldıray Oğur were each sentenced to 3 years and 4 months for “obtaining secret documents pertaining to the security of the state.”

 

More details on the hearing, monitored in the courtroom by P24, can be found here.

 

Journalist Ahmet Kanbal sentenced to 1 years and 3 months in jail  

 

On 2 March 2022, Mezopotamya News Agency reporter Ahmet Kanbal was sentenced to 1 year and 3 months in prison at the end of a trial that was launched upon a legal complaint by a senior army commander. The Aydın 3rd High Criminal Court convicted Kanbal of “exposing the identity of those involved in the fight against terrorism” as per Article 6/1 of the Anti-Terrorism Law (TMK).

 

The court case had been initiated upon a complaint from Gendarmerie Deputy Commander Musa Çitil over a social media post in which Kanbal cited an excerpt from a published interview with Eren Keskin, the co-chair of the Human Rights Association (İHD). The prosecutor had sought prison term for Kanbal under Article 6/1 of TMK and the Article 125 of the Turkish Criminal Code (TCK), which covers “insulting a public official.” The court ruled to acquit Kanbal of the “insult” charge in its verdict.

 

Journalist Namık Koçak acquitted in “propaganda” case

 

An Istanbul court ruled to acquit journalist Namık Koçak of the charge of “terrorism propaganda” at the end of the second hearing held on on 3 March 2022.

 

Koçak was charged with “spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization” under Article 7/2 of the Anti-Terrorism Law for a series of social media posts he shared between 2015 and 2020. He insisted at the hearing that he exercised his constitutional right to freedom of expression and that his social media posts fell within the scope of free speech. The court ruled, in line with the final opinion of the prosecutor, that the elements of the impugned crime did not exist.

 

More details on the hearing, monitored by P24, can be accessed here.

 

Journalist Rabia Önver faces criminal investigation

 

The chief public prosecutor’s office in the southeastern district of Yüksekova have launched a criminal investigation against JinNews reporter Rabia Önver on account of her social media posts. Önver has been summoned to the Yüksekova Police Counter-Terrorism Unit, where she gave her statement as part of the investigation.

 

JinNews reported that Önver was asked questions about her social media posts regarding the 2013 killing of three Kurdish women in Paris, the killing in 2011 of 34 Kurdish villagers in a botched air raid near the town of Uludere (Roboski in Kurdish) and a ceremony to commemorate the slain lawyer Tahir Elçi.

 

Appellate court upholds conviction of former Evrensel editor

 

A regional court of appeals has rejected an appeal against a lower court decision convicting Cem Şimşek, the former Responsible Managing Editor of Evrensel, for “insulting the president” over a 2015 article published in the newspaper. 

 

Şimşek stood trial over the news article, entitled “Alman karikatüristler Erdoğan’ı fena çizdi” (German cartoonists terribly drew Erdoğan) and was sentenced to 11 months and 20 days in prison for “insulting the president.” His lawyer then took the court verdict to the regional court of appeals, requesting that it be overturned. In its decision dated 24 February, the appeal court rejected the appeal, saying the lower court’s verdict was justified in terms of its substance as well as on procedural grounds.

 

Şimşek’s lawyer Devrim Avcı said she would take the regional appeals court’s decision to the Supreme Court of Appeals as well as the Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights if necessary. Avcı also emphasized that the fact that the trial process was still ongoing for a news article that was published seven years ago constituted a separate violation of fair trial rights.

 

ECtHR judgment in “insulting the president” case becomes final

 

The European Court of Human Rights’ (ECtHR) judgement in the application of Turkish national Vedat Çorli, in which the Strasbourg had found the applicant’s conviction for “insulting the president” constituted a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights, has become final.

 

Turkey has objected to the judgment, dated 19 October 2021, but the ECtHR’s Grand Chamber panel rejected Turkey’s request for its referral to the Grand Chamber, rendering the judgment final.

 

The ECtHR ruled in the Vedat Şorli v. Turkey decision that Şorli’s arrest and pre-trial detention and his subsequent sentencing to 11 months and 20 days in prison for “insulting the president” on account of two posts shared on his Facebook page constituted a violation of Article 10 of the Convention. The Court said that “affording increased protection by means of a special law on insult would not, as a rule, be in keeping with the spirit of the Convention.”

 

The decision is now expected to be referred to the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers, which is in charge of supervising the implementation of the ECtHR judgements.

 

10 people imprisoned in investigation into murder of journalist Güngör Arslan

 

Three more people were imprisoned pending trial as part of an investigation into the murder of journalist Güngör Arslan in the northwestern province of Kocaeli, according to media reports published on 27 February. With the latest arrests, the number of suspects held in pre-trial detention as part of the investigation has increased to 10.

 

Arslan, the publisher and managing editor of the local Kocaeli Ses newspaper, was killed in an armed attack in his office on 19 February. Arslan’s latest column was about alleged corruption in business dealings of the Kocaeli Greater Municipality.

 

Journalist Rüstem Batum’s trial adjourned

 

The sixteenth hearing in the trial of journalist Rüstem Batum on the charge of “denigrating the military and the police organization of the state” under Article 301 of the Turkish Criminal Code was held on 4 March 2022 at the Istanbul 43rd Criminal Court of First Instance.  

 

The court ruled at the end of the hearing to wait for execution of an arrest warrant issued against Batum so that his defense statement could be received and adjourned the trial until 24 June 2022. Batum, who has been living abroad, has not attended the hearings and is yet to give his defense statement in response to the accusations leveled by the prosecution.

 

Court adjourns trial of Cihan Ölmez to June

 

The third hearing in the trial of journalist Cihan Ölmez on account of his social media posts and statements to the press regarding a military curfew that was under way in the southeastern town of Cizre in 2015-2016 was held on 1 March 2022 at the Diyarbakır 5th High Criminal Court.

 

Ölmez, who lives abroad, is charged with “spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization” in the said posts and statements. The court ruled to wait for the execution of an arrest warrant issued against Ölmez for the purpose of receiving his defense statement and adjourned the trial until 7 June 2022.

 

Journalist Cem Bahtiyar’s “propaganda” trial resumes  

 

The fourth hearing in the trial of journalist Cem Bahtiyar was held on 1 March 2022 at the Balıkesir 3rd High Criminal Court. Bahtiyar is on trial on the charge of “terrorism propaganda” over some of his social media posts.

 

Addressing the court at the hearing, Bahtiyar’s lawyer Erselan Aktan said that the social media posts cited in the indictment were not posted by Bahtiyar as the account that shared these posts did not belong to him. Aktan said correspondence with Twitter that was already submitted to the case file proved that he was not the user of the said account and asked the court to rule for Bahtiyar’s acquittal.

 

The court, however, ruled for the continuation of an international travel ban against the journalist and adjourned the trial until 2 June 2022.

 

Özgür Gündem trial of Aykol, Kaya and Kızılkaya adjourned

 

The trial of former co-editors-in-chief of the now-defunct Özgür Gündem newspaper Hüseyin Aykol and Zana Bilir Kaya, the newspaper’s responsible editor İnan Kızılkaya and Kurdish politician Hatip Dicle resumed at the Istanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance on 3 March 2022.

 

The defendants are charged with “denigrating the Turkish Nation, the Turkish State, the Government and the judicial organs of the State” under Article 301 of the Turkish Criminal Code for some articles published in Özgür Gündem in 2016.  

 

The court refused to let any observers or members of the press into the courtroom, citing Covid-19 measures. In its interim decision at the end of the closed hearing, the court ruled to adjourn the trial until 16 June, awaiting the execution of an arrest warrant against Hatip Dicle who lives abroad.

 

At least 58 journalists and media workers in prison

 

As of 4 March 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.