Prosecutors seek conviction of former journalists of Zaman, Özgürlükçü Demokrasi newspapers; RTÜK fines TV channels for coverage of sexual assault case; Sedef Kabaş ordered to pay compensation; top court rules against cancellation of Dilek Dündar’s passport; journalist, program guest attacked by group raiding TV building in Kayseri

 

Prosecutors seek conviction of former Zaman, Özgürlükçü Demokrasi journalists

 

Prosecutors in the retrials of former journalists of the now-defunct Zaman and Özgürlükçü Demokrasi newspapers submitted their final opinions in the separate court hearings held this week.

 

The sixth hearing in the retrial of former Zaman columnists Ali Bulaç, Ahmet Turan Alkan, Mümtazer Türköne and Şahin Alpay and news editor Mehmet Özdemir was held on 7 April 2022 at the İstanbul 13th High Criminal Court. They have been on retrial since April 2021, as original verdicts in their trial on terrorism charges were overturned by the Supreme Court of Appeals in September 2020.

 

The prosecutor submitted his final opinion on the case to the court at the hearing, which was monitored by P24. In the final opinion, the prosecutor claimed that the four columnists should be convicted of “aiding the terrorist organization FETÖ/PDY without being a part of its hierarchical structure,” in line with the Supreme Court of Appeals’ 2020 judgment. He also asked the court to separate the file of editor Özdemir, who has not attended any of the court hearings despite a warrant of arrest issued against him. Lawyers for the journalists requested time in order to prepare their defense statements in response to the prosecutor’s final opinion. Accepting the request, the court adjourned the trial until 28 June 2022.

 

The third hearing in the retrial of the former publisher, editors and staff members of Özgürlükçü Demokrasi newspaper was also held on 7 April 2022, at the İstanbul 23rd High Criminal Court. The prison sentences and acquittals given in 2019 to the pro-Kurdish newspaper’s former editors and publisher and staffers were overturned in March 2021 by a regional court of justice, which also ordered a retrial.

 

Submitting his final opinion at the hearing, which was monitored by P24, the prosecutor asked the court to convict editors Hicran Urun, Mehmet Ali Çelebi and Reyhan Hacıoğlu; responsible managing editor İshak Yasul; publisher İhsan Yaşar and staffer Pınar Tarlak on the charges of “membership in a terrorist organization”, “making propaganda for a terrorist organization” and “successively printing or publishing statements by terrorist organizations.” In addition, the prosecutor requested that Mizgin Fendik, the former distributor of the newspaper in the Yüksekova district of Hakkâri province, be acquitted on the grounds that she could not be held liable for the content of the shuttered daily because of “fulfilling her duty to distribute the newspaper.” Lawyer Özcan Kılıç requested additional time to prepare their defense statements in response to the prosecutor’s final opinion. Accepting the request for continuance, the court adjourned the trial until 14 June 2022.

 

RTÜK fines TV stations for covering allegations of sexual assault of minors

 

The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) imposed administrative fines on TV stations Halk TV, KRT and TELE 1 on 6 April 2022 for covering a sexual assault case involving seven minors in a Quran course in Erzurum province.

 

Announcing the decision of the broadcasting watchdog on his social media account, RTÜK member İlhan Taşçı stated that the decision was taken by a majority vote upon the complaint the Presidency of Religious Affairs.

 

TV building raided, journalist and program guest attacked in Kayseri

 

Local journalist Azim Deniz and politician and business person Sedat Kılınç, who was set to attend Deniz’s talk show program as a guest, were attacked late in the evening on 8 April in the central Anatolian province of Kayseri.

 

Kılınç, a local politician from the government ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), resigned from the party earlier in the week in show of solidarity with MHP Kayseri deputy Baki Ersoy, who is now expected to be expelled from the party for openly complaining about rising prices and inflation during a television program. Kılınç was due to be the guest of “Ramazan Sohbetleri” (Ramadan Talks) program on Deniz Postası TV at 9:30 p.m. on 8 April but about 15 minutes before the program, he was attacked by a group of about 50 people who raided the building. Program host Azim Deniz was also attacked as he attempted to protect Kılınç. Kılınç was then forcefully taken out of the building by the attackers, who are reported to be from an MHP-linked group. Both Kılınç and Deniz received treatment at a hospital after the attack.  

 

Speaking after the attack, Deniz said there was a second group of about 50 people waiting outside the building. Deniz Postası reported that its staff were locked in the studio and kitchen by the attackers to prevent them from intervening.

 

Journalist Sedef Kabaş ordered to pay compensation to brother of Erdoğan’s son-in-law

 

Journalist Sedef Kabaş was sentenced on 7 April 2022 to pay compensation to Serhat Albayrak, the CEO of the pro-government Turkuvaz Medya group and brother of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s son-in-law Berat Albayrak. 

 

Kabaş announced the court decision on her Twitter account, saying the court ruled that she had “insulted” Albayrak and sentenced her to pay compensation in a lawsuit that was launched over a tweet that she posted in March 2021, in which she commented on Paradise Papers reports of “tax evasion” by Serhat Albayrak and his brother Berat Albayrak through off-shore accounts in Malta. The court ordered Kabaş to pay TL 10,000 (622 euros). Albayrak had demanded TL 100,000 in compensation.

 

Constitutional Court rules against the cancellation of Dilek Dündar’s passport

 

The Constitutional Court ruled that the cancellation of a passport belonging to Dilek Dündar, the wife of exiled journalist Can Dündar, amounted to a violation of her right to respect for her private and family life. In its decision, the top court stressed that the cancellation of Dilek Dündar’s passport in the absence of any judicial investigations or lawsuits against her was contrary to the requirements of the democratic social order.

 

On 3 September 2016, Dilek Dündar’s passport was confiscated by police at İstanbul Atatürk Airport as she was preparing to visit her husband, Can Dündar, in Germany. In the meantime, it emerged that Dilek Dündar was profiled as “the wife of a suspect of FETÖ/PDY terrorist organization” in an official document. During the ensuing proceedings filed against the cancellation of her passport at the İstanbul 5th Administrative Court, it was revealed that the seizure and cancellation of Dündar’s passport was based on a General Directorate of Security circular, issued on 22 August 2016. In 2017, the administrative court dismissed the case, upon which Dilek Dündar lodged an individual application with the Constitutional Court in January 2018.

 

In its decision, the First Section of the Constitutional Court noted that there was no criminal investigation or prosecution launched against Dilek Dündar on the allegation that she was associated with a terrorist organization, or no court decision stipulating an international travel ban. “In the present case, it is understood that the basis of the restriction affecting the family life of the applicant consisted of an administrative action concerning the cancellation of the passport, but the aforementioned administrative action failed to show, in its reasoning, why the applicant’s travel abroad was deemed objectionable in terms of national security, and at the trial stage, the grounds for the administrative action were not laid down in connection with the context of the applicant’s individual situation,” the decision read.

 

The Constitutional Court decided that Dilek Dündar was to be paid TL 22,000 in respect of non-pecuniary damage, and ruled to send a copy of the decision to the İstanbul 5th Administrative Court for a retrial in order to eliminate the violation and its consequences.

 

President’s son-in-law sues journalist Şirin Payzın, Sedat Yılmaz over drone sale comments

 

Selçuk Bayraktar, a son-in-law of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the CTO of drone maker Baykar, have filed a compensation lawsuit against journalist Şirin Payzın and Halk TV, seeking TL 150,000 in non-pecuniary damage.

 

The lawsuit stems from the questions asked by Şirin Payzın to Ahmet Kamil Erozan, a former ambassador and a deputy of the opposition İYİ Party, who attended as a guest to Payzın’s TV show “Sözüm Var” that aired on Halk TV on 16 February 2022. The questions concerned the reported sale of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) manufactured by Baykar to the United Arab Emirates during President Erdoğan’s recent state visit there.

 

The complaint lodged by Bayraktar’s lawyers with İstanbul’s Bakırköy 7th Criminal Court of First Instance argued that “Bayraktar’s personal rights were damaged and he was insulted as a result of false news.”

 

A similar lawsuit was brought against journalist Sedat Yılmaz and Yeni Yaşam newspaper as well. Bayraktar sued Yılmaz and the newspaper over a report dated 23 November 2021, which said President Erdoğan was personally involved in the “marketing” of Baykar’s TB2 UCAVs to other countries and suggested that foreign countries were encouraged by the government to buy the UCAVs produced by Bayraktar’s company through offering them state grants. First hearing in the compensation trial will be held on 16 May 2022 at the Bakırköy 14th Criminal Court of First Instance.

 

Top court condemns verdict ordering local newspaper to pay compensation to politician

 

The Constitutional Court has ruled that a lower court decision sentencing a local newspaper in the central Anatolian province of Kayseri to pay compensation to a politician constituted a violation of the right to freedom of expression and the press.

 

The newspaper, Kayseri Yeni Haber, was ordered by the Ankara 18th Civil Court of First Instance in 2018 to pay TL 2,000 in compensation to the opposition CHP politician Haluk Pekşen, who sued the paper for its coverage of a polemic at a CHP district convention in 2016 in Kayseri’s Bünyan district. The decision became final after it was upheld by a regional court of appeals.

 

The Constitutional Court said in a judgment dated 22 February that sanctioning of the newspaper would undermine open and free debate on matters of public interest and significantly hinder the press’ ability to contribute to discussion of such issues.  

 

Court overturns Ayşegül Doğan’s prison sentence

 

The 2nd Criminal Chamber of the Diyarbakır Regional Administrative Court overturned the 6-year-and-3-month prison sentence given to Ayşegül Doğan, a former program coordinator of the İMC TV, which was shut down by a statutory decree, on the charge of “membership in a terrorist organization.”

 

The appellate court found the initial decision rendered by the Diyarbakır 9th High Criminal Court unlawful due to “incomplete investigation and establishment of verdict on grounds that fail to comply with the scope of the file.”

 

In the unanimous decision, it was noted that Doğan participated in the workshops and conferences organized by the Democratic Society Congress (DTK) in her capacity as a journalist.

 

Additionally, it was emphasized that the activities cited in the indictment could not be considered, in their own right, as evidence of the crime of “membership in an armed terrorist organization” or as terrorist activity.

 

Doğan’s lawyer, Ahmet Özmen, stated that the verdict could set a precedent for similar cases where journalists are prosecuted for participating in gatherings and events as part of their journalistic work.

 

Ender İmrek to stand trial for “insulting the president” charge

 

A criminal lawsuit was filed against Ender İmrek, a columnist for Evrensel newspaper, on the charge of “insulting the president” over his article titled “Türkiye yanıyor, saray izliyor” (“Turkey is burning, the palace is watching”), published on 31 July 2021.

 

The indictment, drafted by the Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, argues that İmrek’s article included expressions that “may impugn the honour, dignity or prestige of the President of the Republic of Turkey.”

 

On 14 December 2021, an investigation was launched against İmrek by the Special Crimes Bureau of the Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office on the charges of “insulting the president” and “inciting the public to hatred and animosity.” In his defense statement taken at the investigation stage, İmrek said that he did not intend to insult the president in his article, which he penned to condemn the government’s response to nationwide wildfires.

 

Demokratik Modernite trial will begin in June

 

A criminal lawsuit was filed against five persons, including Pakrat Estukyan, a columnist for and editor of the Armenian edition of Agos newspaper, and Ramazan Yurttapan, managing editor of Demokratik Modernite magazine, on the charge of “making propaganda for a terrorist organization. The accusations stem from the articles published in the 36th issue of the magazine in question. 

 

The İstanbul 27th High Criminal Court accepted the indictment, prepared by the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. The trial will begin on 14 June 2022. In addition to Estukyan and Yurttapan, Emran Emekçi, Cihan Doğan and Mehmet Nimet Sevim are also listed as defendants in the case.

 

Prosecutor drafts investment against JinNews reporter Rabia Önver

 

The Yüksekova Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office in the southeastern province of Hakkari has prepared an indictment against JinNews reporter Rabia Önver, charging her with “spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization” in a series of social media posts. Önver had given her statement to the police at the Yüksekova Police Anti-Terror Department on 1 March as part of the investigation.

 

The indictment was sent to the Van 1st High Criminal Court, as it was determined that Önver was in Van when the social media posts that were included in the indictment were posted.

 

Investigation against journalist Ferhat Parlak dismissed

 

An investigation launched against journalist Ferhat Parlak for reporting about a 7-year-old child who fell into a manhole without a cover and got injured in the Silvan district of Diyarbakır and sharing the news report on social media was dismissed. The investigation was initiated upon the complaint of the government-appointed trustee to the Silvan Municipality. The Silvan Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, overseeing the investigation, concluded that the expressions in Parlak’s social media post fell within the scope of freedom of expression and the press.

 

A criminal complaint was filed against Parlak on the grounds of the statement, “He nearly escaped death due to the negligence of the municipality, run by the government-appointed trustee,” in a news report concerning Ş.B., a 7-year-old who was injured after falling into an open manhole without a cover on his way home from school in Silvan district and had, as a result, 14 stitches in his jaw on 13 December 2021. Parlak then gave his statement to the Silvan Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, which launched an investigation against the journalist on the charges of “insult” and “marking a state official as a target” upon the complaint filed by a lawyer representing District Governor Murat Öztürk, who was appointed as a trustee to the municipality by the government.

 

Trial of Devrim Ayık to resume in June

 

The 33rd hearing in the trial of former Özgür Halk magazine employee Devrim Ayık on the charge of “membership in a terrorist organization” was held on 8 April 2022 at the İzmir 2nd High Criminal Court.

 

Devrim Ayık, who is suffering from a critical illness, was brought to the İzmir courthouse from the Eskişehir H Type Prison, where he was jailed pending trial. In his defense statement, Ayık demanded his release, stating that he was not fit to stay in prison or travel in prison vehicles due to his illness. Recalling that Ayık had been held in pre-trial detention for more than four years, his lawyer asked the court to release him, or to transfer him to a local prison in İzmir since his travel adversely affected his health, should the court decide against his release.

 

In its interim decision, the court panel rejected Ayık’s request for release, and asserted that his request to be transferred to an İzmir prison would be considered in between the hearings. The trial was postponed to 3 June 2022 for the completion of the file in respect of the other defendants in the case.

 

Trial of Adil Demirci adjourned until October

 

The trial of Etkin News Agency (ETHA) reporter Adil Demirci and 22 other defendants on charges of “membership in a terrorist organization” and “spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization” resumed on 8 April 22 at the İstanbul 25th High Criminal Court. Announcing its interim decision at the end of the hearing, which was not attended by any of the defendants, the court adjourned the trial to 13 October.

 

Trial of Rüstem Batum on “insulting the president” charge postponed

 

The 16th hearing in the trial of talk show presenter, writer and journalist Rüstem Batum on the charge of “insulting the president” took place on 5 April 2022 at the İstanbul 41st Criminal Court of First Instance. Batum, who resides abroad, did not attend the hearing. His lawyers requested the court to acquit Batum. The court adjourned the trial until 20 April, granting the prosecution time for the preparation of their final opinion.

 

At least 56 journalists and media workers in prison

 

As of 9 April 2022, at least 56 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.