Three journalists acquitted in ongoing trials; Council of State suspends execution of police circular banning filming at protests; RTÜK fines television channels over Gezi Trial coverage

 

Council of State rejects appeals to suspension of circular banning filming at protests

 

The Council of State has rejected objections from the Interior Ministry and the Police Directorate to its earlier decision to suspend the execution of a circular banning audio and video recordings during protests and demonstrations.

 

The controversial circular issued by the Police Directorate, dated April 2021, was widely criticized as an attempt to prevent exposure and documentation of police brutality during demonstrations. The Journalists’ Union of Turkey (TGS) and other civil society organizations and bar associations took the circular to the Council of State, the top administrative court, demanding suspension of its implementation and eventual cancellation. The court suspended the execution of the circular in November 2021.

 

In the decision announced by TGS on 9 May, the Council of State said that the objections submitted by the public authorities were not deemed to be warranting a reversal of its November 2021 decision.

 

 

Supreme Court of Appeals upholds convictions against top opposition politician

 

The 3rd Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals has upheld three out of five verdicts handed down against Canan Kaftancıoğlu, the head of the Istanbul branch of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), for a series of tweets from 2012-2017.

 

Kaftancıoğlu was sentenced to 1 year 6 months and 20 days in prison for “insulting a public official,” 1 year and 8 months for “denigrating the Turkish State” and 2 years and 4 months for “insulting the president” for her tweets. She was also convicted of “spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization” and “inciting the public to hatred and animosity” and was given a combined prison term of 4 years and 2 months.

 

The Supreme Court of Appeals overturned the “propaganda” and “incitement” convictions and ordered a retrial, but upheld the remaining verdicts. When confirming the conviction handed down for “insulting the president,” however, it reduced the sentence from 2 years and 4 months to 1 year and 9 months, meaning it upheld prison terms equaling to 4 years 11 months and 20 days in total.

 

Kaftancıoğlu is not expected to serve any time due to the Supreme Court of Appeals judgment as she is eligible for reductions in sentence and parole. She is, however, expected to be banned from politics as a result of her finalized convictions.

 

Metin Gürcan released, then rearrested in “espionage” case

 

Military analyst and Al Monitor columnist Metin Gürcan, also a founding member of the opposition DEVA Party, was released on 11 May 2022, at the end of the second hearing of a trial in which he was held in pre-trial detention since November 2021 on the charge of “political and military espionage” on account of his contacts with and work for some diplomatic missions in Turkey.

 

The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, which drafted the indictment against Gürcan, however, objected to the court’s decision to release him under judicial control measures, arguing that judicial measures would be an insufficient measure given the gravity of charges and severity of possible sentences. The Ankara 27th High Criminal Court, the next court of first instance, accepted the prosecution’s appeal, ordering Gürcan’s rearrest. Gürcan was rearrested and sent back to prison on 12 May.

 

RTÜK fines TV channels over coverage of Gezi Trial verdict

 

The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) fined four television channels for broadcasting comments of two opposition deputies condemning the conviction of Osman Kavala and seven other defendants in the Gezi Trial.

 

At the end of a meeting on 10 May, RTÜK issued administrative fines against Flash TV, Halk TV, Tele 1 and KRT, amounting to 3 percent of their monthly advertisement revenues, for covering a protest outside the Istanbul Courthouse after the Gezi Trial convictions that were issued on 25 April.

 

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Özgür Özel and the Workers’ Party of Turkey (TİP) deputy Ahmet Şık attended the protest and made statements criticizing the Gezi Trial verdict and the government. “Gezi is free. Kavala is free. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will be held to account before history,” Özel said. President Erdoğan then accused Özel of “insulting the president” in public remarks and sued him for compensation.

 

TİP’s Şık also condemned the verdict at the protest, saying “You will have given up on your dignity if you do not speak up now. The government has no dignity anyway. They are already a criminal organization. Those who do not object are responsible for this verdict.”

 

EP report: Accession negotiations can’t resume without reforms

 

Without clear and significant progress in EU-related reforms, Parliament cannot envisage resuming accession negotiations with Turkey, the European Parliament said in a report adopted on 12 May 2022 at the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET).

 

The report, adopted by 54 votes in favor, seven against and 13 abstentions, warns that in spite of Turkey’s repeated declarations on the objective of EU accession, over the past two years the country has consistently gone back on its commitments in relation to the accession process.

 

The report, prepared by European Parliament’s Turkey rapporteur Nacho Sanchez Amor, points to the continued deterioration of the human rights situation in Turkey. It also regrets the sustained legal and administrative pressure that the Turkish government is putting on civil society and human rights defenders, lawyers and journalists and calls on the Commission to provide, through relevant financial instruments, sufficient funding for pro-democracy efforts in Turkey. Following the vote at AFET, the report is now expected to be taken up at the plenary.

Nadire Mater wins press card lawsuit filed against Presidency

 

An Ankara administrative court has ruled against the Directorate of Communications of the Presidency in a lawsuit brought by journalist Nadire Mater, the president of the IPS Communication Foundation, after her permanent press card was canceled.  

 

Before canceling it, the Directorate of Communications refused to renew Mater’s press card, citing “improper application.” It then canceled the press card on the ground that Mater had a prior conviction on a terrorism charge. In its decision dated 30 April 2022, the Ankara 18th Administrative Court found the Directorate’s arguments unlawful and ordered that Mater’s press card privileges be restored. The court’s decision “confirmed the arbitrary nature of the decisions of the Directorate of Communications,” Mater’s lawyer Meriç Eyüboğlu commented.

 

The Presidency’s Directorate of Communications was put in charge of issuing press cards to journalists by a statutory decree published in July 2018. The same decree also gave the Directorate the authority to revoke press cards if their holders are deemed to be “involved in acts that run counter to national security and public order.”

 

Dutch journalists Olaf Koens and Pepijn Nagtzaam acquitted

 

The second hearing in the trial of RTL Nieuws journalists Olaf Koens and Pepijn Nagtzaam on the charge of “violating the Law no. 2565 on Military Forbidden and Security Zones” was held on 12 May 2022 at the Edirne 5th Criminal Court of First Instance.

 

The Dutch journalists, who are accused of entering into a military forbidden zone when covering a refugee crisis near the border with Greece in September 2021, did not attend the hearing. Their lawyer, Erselan Aktan, told the court that his clients could not be expected to know that the area in question was a military zone given that an expert commissioned as part of the trial was able to establish it only after a technical research and inquiry. Aktan asked the court to acquit the Dutch journalists. The prosecutor also submitted in his final opinion on the case that the two journalists should be acquitted.

 

The court ruled at the end of the hearing to acquit Koens and Nagtzaam, finding that elements of the impugned crime did not exist.

 

Journalist Rojin Altay acquitted

 

The fifth hearing in the trial of journalist Rojin Altay and two minors, who are charged with “violating the Law no. 2911 on Meetings and Demonstrations” in connection with a protest in İstanbul’s Kadıköy in February 2021, was held on 11 May 2022 at the Anadolu 1st Juvenile Court.

 

Altay, who was briefly detained while covering the protest, did not attend the final hearing. Announcing its verdict at the end of the hearing, the court ruled for the acquittal of Altay and her co-defendants, saying their actions fell within the scope of the right to assembly.

 

Journalist İsmail Saymaz faces investigation

 

The authorities have launched a criminal investigation against journalist İsmail Saymaz, reportedly for his remarks about one of the judges who gave aggravated life sentence to imprisoned businessman Osman Kavala and 18 years in prison to each of his seven co-defendants in the Gezi Trial.

Saymaz announced on his Twitter account on 10 May that the investigation was launched because of his remarks stating that the wife of one of the judges in the Gezi Trial had been named a suspect in an investigation against what the authorities call the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ). It was revealed in the course of the Gezi Trial that the same judge was a candidate for nomination to become a deputy for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in 2018.

The investigation was launched by the Anti-Terror and Organized Crime Bureau of the İstanbul Police Department. Saymaz said the investigation was based on terrorism charges, without elaborating.

 

Journalist Oktay Candemir faces investigation over social media post

 

The Van Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has launched an investigation against journalist Oktay Candemir for “insulting a public official” on the basis of a social media post.

 

Candemir was summoned to the local police headquarters to give his statement as part of the

investigation. In the Twitter post that included a photo of Van Governor Mehmet Emin Bilmez and dated 25 April 2022, Candemir said: “Vanspor (the province’s soccer team) is dead. The city’s economy is dead. Civil and democratic life is dead. Local media is dead. The municipality is dead. What remained is bribery, nepotism, drug, gambling, hunger and misery. This is all our work. Here I am as Governor and the Head of VANTSO!”

 

In his statement to the police, Candemir said he shared the post as an exercise of his freedom of expression and that he had no intention to insult. Candemir left the police headquarters after giving his statement.

 

Prosecutor demands prison term for İHD co-chair

 

The first hearing in the trial of Öztürk Türkdoğan, the co-chair of the Human Rights Association (İHD), on the charge of “insulting a public official” was held on 11 May 2022 at the Ankara 6th Criminal Court of First Instance.

 

Türkdoğan is accused of “insulting” Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu in a statement published on İHD’s website on 29 June 2018. Türkdoğan said to the court that Soylu was frequently criticized by human rights groups because of his statements that reflect political bias and violate principle of presumption of innocence. He said İHD, as a human rights organization, responds to the minister’s statements that show disregard to several basic human rights. “It is Soylu, not me, who should stand trial,” he said.

 

Türkdoğan’s lawyer Kerem Altıparmak highlighted the fact that Soylu did not file any complaint against İHD or Türkdoğan for the 2018 statement and said that for this reason, the case was in violation of the procedural norms. The prosecutor, however, submitted his final opinion to the court, requesting conviction of Türkdoğan for insulting Soylu. The court adjourned the trial until 27 June after defense requested time to prepare their final defense statement in response to the prosecution.

 

Erdoğan’s ex-lawyer sues journalists for compensation

 

The trial of journalists Can Bursalı, Barış Terkoğlu and Independent Turkish service over reports on the allegations that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s former lawyer Mustafa Doğan İnal had received TL 15 million (about $1 million) from the previous administration of the İstanbul Greater Municipality for legal services went under way on 12 May 2022.

 

İnal demands TL 100,000 in compensation from each defendant, arguing that the reports in question constituted defamation. The first hearing of the case was heard by the İstanbul 11th Criminal Court of First Instance. İnal did not attend the hearing and was represented by his lawyer. Can Bursalı attended the court session, along with defense lawyers representing him, Barış Terkoğlu and Independent Turkish. İnal’s lawyers argued that their client’s personal rights had come under attack as a result of the reports, while defense lawyers asked the court to reject the case because the reports were based on verifiable facts.

 

The court announced its interim decision at the end of the verdict, ordering the İstanbul Greater Municipality to submit a list of payments made to İnal. The trial was adjourned until 13 September.

 

Foundation employee released in trial over “TÜGVA leaks”

 

The third hearing in the trial of journalist Metin Cihan on the charge of “illegally obtaining or disseminating personal data” for publishing leaked documents from the pro-government Turkey Youth Foundation (TÜGVA), which allegedly showed widespread nepotism in state institutions, was held on 11 May 2022 at the İstanbul 22nd Criminal Court of First Instance.

 

Cihan, who lives abroad, did not attend the hearing. The other defendant in the case, Ramazan Aydoğdu, attended via judicial videoconferencing system SEGBİS from the prison where he is held in pre-trial detention.

 

Aydoğdu denied any connection with Cihan and argued that there was no evidence indicating that he had given Cihan the documents and information that he published. He also said he was accused of “stealing” documents from TÜGVA archives while TÜGVA also denies the authenticity of the same documents. Cihan’s lawyer Özgür Urfa said the authorities should investigate the incidents of favoritism and profiling that are revealed in the published documents.  

 

The court ruled to release Aydoğdu pending trial, given the time he has already spent in detention. The next hearing in the case will be held on 24 June 2022.

 

Red Crescent accepted as co-plaintiff in trial against BirGün reporter

 

The second hearing in the trial of BirGün reporter İsmail Arı on the charge of “illegally obtaining or disseminating personal data” was held on 12 May 2022 at the İstanbul 58th Criminal Court of First Instance. Arı is on trial over an October 2020 report on fines issued by the Interior Ministry against Red Crescent (Kızılay). The report includes copies of bank statements indicating that the fines were paid by Kızılay’s president and general director.

 

Arı and his lawyer Sevgi Kalan attended the hearing, which was monitored by P24. Arı told the court that his report was a journalistic activity and served public interest. Lawyer Kalan said the report in question was about the administrative fines paid by Kızılay and as such did not contain any personal data. Kalan also asked the court to reject Kızılay’s request to join the case as a co-plaintiff saying the organization was not harmed by the alleged offense.

 

The court, however, accepted Kızılay’s request to join the case in its interim decision and adjourned the trial until 11 October 2022.

 

Prosecutor seeks prison terms for journalists Sadiye Eser, Sadık Topaloğlu

 

The eighth hearing of a court trial in which journalist Sadiye Eser and Yeni Yaşam reporter Sadık Topaloğlu are charged with “membership in a terrorist organization” was held on 12 May 2022 at the İstanbul 22nd High Criminal Court.

 

Eser and Topaloğlu did not attend the hearing, which was monitored by P24. The prosecutor in the case submitted his final opinion on the case, in which he asked the court to convict the two journalists on “membership in a terrorist organization.” The court accepted the defense lawyers’ request for additional time to prepare their defense statements in response to the prosecutor’s final opinion and adjourned the trial until 8 September 2022.

 

Prosecutor requests court to convict Hatice Şahin in terrorism trial

 

The ninth hearing of a trial in which Yeni Yaşam employee Hatice Şahin is charged with “membership in a terrorist organization” was held on 11 May 2022 at the Diyarbakır 9th High Criminal Court.

 

Şahin was arrested and later released in October 2018 as part of an investigation into the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Congress (DTK). In his final opinion submitted to the court at the hearing, the prosecutor argued that Şahin had acted within the DTK, “which aims to establish Kurdish national unity.” He also demanded that the judicial control measures against Şahin remain in place.

 

Şahin’s lawyer Resul Temur requested the court to grant additional time for the defense to prepare its final defense statement. The court accepted the request and adjourned the trial until 19 September 2022. It also ruled that judicial control measures on Şahin will remain in place.

 

Trial of police officers who violently detained Beyza Kural adjourned

 

The fifth hearing in the trial of three police officers who violently detained former Bianet reporter Beyza Kural as she was covering a demonstration in İstanbul in 2015 was held on 13 May 2022. The police officers are charged with “violation of the freedom to work or labor by using force, threats or by any other unlawful act” under Article 117/1 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK), which carries a penalty of imprisonment for a term of 6 months to 2 years, or a judicial fine.

 

Kural and her lawyer attended the hearing, which was monitored by P24. None of the police officers was present in the courtroom. One of the officers on trial, identified as N.D., presented his defense statement to the court after three hearings. That defense statement, which was submitted to the court in between the hearings and in which N.D. denied any use of force against Kural, was read out during the court session. Kural, on the other hand, told the court that she did not accept the police officer’s statement as it was clear in the video recordings of the event that he had used force on her. “We have all watched the footage together,” she said. Kural’s lawyer Sibel Erol also rejected N.D.’s statement and said the commission of crime was clearly visible in the video recordings. Erol also submitted a list of people which she asked the court to summon as witnesses.

 

Additionally, Elif Akgül, a member of the Executive Board of the journalists’ union DİSK Basın-İş, submitted to the court a request for DİSK Basın-İş to join the case as a co-plaintiff, given that Kural is a member of the union. The court, however, rejected the request in its interim decision. It accepted lawyer Erol’s request to hear witnesses and adjourned the trial until 30 September 2022.

 

The trial, overseen by the Istanbul 35th Criminal Court of First Instance, follows on the heels of a Constitutional Court judgment rendered in January 2021, which held that Kural’s arrest violated freedom of expression, freedom of the press and prohibition of ill-treatment.

 

Former DİHA reporter Ramazan Akoğul’s trial adjourned

 

The 11th hearing of a retrial in which former reporter of the now-defunct Dicle News Agency (DİHA) is charged with “membership in a terrorist organization” was held on 10 May 2022 at the Diyarbakır 4th High Criminal Court. In its interim decision, the court adjourned the trial until 15 September 2022.

 

Akoğul was detained, and subsequently released, as he was covering a protest by a group of people whose faces were covered by masks in 2015 in Diyarbakır. Akoğul and the protesters later stood trial on account of the demonstration but were acquitted at the end of court proceedings in 2018. The prosecutor, however, objected to the acquittal verdict at a regional appeals court, which eventually overturned the verdict and sent the case file to the trial court for a retrial.

 

Court seeks merger of cases in trial of Erkan Çapraz, Ömer Oğuz

 

The second hearing in a trial in which the editor-in-chief and news coordinator of Yüksekova Haber, a local news portal in the southeastern province of Hakkari, are charged with “spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization” was held on 10 May 2022 at the Hakkari 1st High Criminal Court.

 

The trial of chief editor Erkan Çapraz and news coordinator Ömer Oğuz stems from broadcasting on Yüksekova Haber’s YouTube channel of a speech delivered at a panel in February 2020 by Leyla Güven, a former deputy of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democracy Party (HDP) and a co-president of the DTK.

 

The court decided at the end of the hearing to ask the Diyarbakır 9th High Criminal Court, which oversees a trial of Leyla Güven, whether it consents to the merger of the two cases. In case the Diyarbakır court disagrees, the Hakkari court will wait for the outcome of Leyla Güven’s trial there. The court adjourned the trial until 13 September 2022 and agreed to grant permission to Çapraz and Oğur to not attend future hearings.

 

Trial of Hüseyin Aykol and Reyhan Çapan adjourned

 

The latest hearing in the long-running trial of former chief editor and responsible managing editor of the now-defunct Özgür Gündem newspaper, Hüseyin Aykol and Reyhan Çapan, was held on 10 May 2022 at the İstanbul 13th High Criminal Court. Aykol and Çapan, along with some of the contributors of the newspaper, are charged with “spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization” and “praising a crime and the offender” on account of a series of articles published in Özgür Gündem.

 

The court adjourned the trial until 15 September 2022 to wait for the execution of arrest warrants in place against some of the defendants.

 

Trial of Osman Akın and Veysel Sözen postponed to September

 

The tenth hearing of a trial in which former responsible managing editor of Yeni Yaşam Osman Akın and columnist Veysi Sarısözen are charged with “systematically spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization” on the basis of some of the articles published in the newspaper was held on 11 May 2022 at the İstanbul 13th High Criminal Court.

 

Akın and Sarısözen or their lawyers did not attend the hearing. The trial was adjourned until 21 September 2022.

 

Ziya Çiçekçi’s trial in absentia resumes

 

The ninth hearing in the trial of journalist Ziya Çiçekçi on the charge of “spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization” on account of a series of posts published on Yeni Özgür Politika newspaper’s social media accounts was held on 11 May 2022 at the İstanbul 33rd High Criminal Court.

 

Çiçekçi has a warrant of arrest issued against him for not having attended the court proceedings. The court decided to wait for the execution of the arrest warrant and adjourned the trial until 9 September 2022.  

 

Journalist Çetin Kurşun’s trial adjourned until October

 

The retrial of a former reporter of the now-defunct Azadiye Welat newspaper, Çetin Kurşun, on the charge of “membership in a terrorist organization” resumed on 12 May 2022 at the Mardin 2nd High Criminal Court.  

 

Kurşun, who attended the hearing along with his lawyer, rejected the accusations leveled against him and requested his acquittal. The trial was adjourned until 6 October 2022.

 

Kurşun, who was charged with “membership in a terrorist organization” and “spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization,” was convicted at the end of the original trial of “spreading propaganda” and sentenced to three years in prison. But the verdict was overturned by a regional court of appeals, which ruled that Kurşun should have been convicted of “membership in a terrorist organization.”

 

Engin Korkmaz’s trial adjourned

 

The eighth hearing in the trial of Antalya Körfez newspaper’s responsible managing editor Engin Korkmaz on the charge of “insulting the president” for his social media posts was held on 13 May 2022 at the Antalya 19th Criminal Court of First Instance. The trial was adjourned until 3 October because the prosecutor was on leave of absence.

 

Court orders mandatory appearance for writer Gökhan Yavuzel

 

The first hearing of a trial in which writer and PEN International member Gökhan Yavuzel is charged with “insulting the president” was held on 10 May 2022 at the Şanlıurfa 4th Criminal Court of First Instance.

 

The court accepted a request from President Erdoğan to join the case as a co-plaintiff and issued an order to forcefully bring Yavuzel to the courtroom at the next hearing. The trial was adjourned until 6 December 2022.

 

Yavuzel, who lives abroad, is on trial on account of a social media post commenting on an armed attack on the İzmir branch of the HDP, in which party worker Deniz Poyraz was killed by the assailant.

Prosecutor seeks conviction of poet Yılmaz Odabaşı

 

 

The second hearing in trial of poet Yılmaz Odabaşı on the charge of “inciting hatred and enmity” and “publicly degrading a segment of the society based on social class, race, religion, sect, gender or regional differences” on the basis of his Twitter posts was held on 12 May 2022 at the Alanya 6th Criminal Court of First Instance.

 

Odabaşı did not attend the hearing. The prosecutor submitted his final opinion on the case, requesting Odabaşı’s acquittal of “incitement to hatred and enmity” but conviction on the charge of “publicly degrading a segment of the society.”

 

Odabaşı’s lawyer denied Odabaşı degraded any segment of the society, saying that the Twitter post which constituted the basis for the accusation was only meant to raise awareness on work conditions of doctors and other healthcare professionals during pandemic.

 

The court postponed the trial to 24 May 2022 for further evaluation of the case file.

 

 

Ferhat Tunç’s trial is adjourned to October

 

The eight hearing in the trial of musician Ferhat Tunç on charges of “terrorism propaganda” and “membership in a terrorist organization” was held on 10 May 2022 at the Diyarbakır 5th High Criminal Court.

 

The court adjourned the trial until 25 October 2022 to wait for the execution of a warrant for the arrest of Tunç, who lives abroad.

 

Journalist Seda Taşkın threatened on social media

 

Journalist Seda Taşkın announced on 13 May that she was threatened by anonymous messages on social media.

 

Taşkın shared the screenshot of a threatening message sent on Instagram. “When I say that I will file a complaint, they replied saying ‘there is no prosecutor to take your case’. We all know how they have this sort of courage” she wrote on Twitter.

 

Two journalists released, 52 journalists in prison in Turkey

 

We have updated our list of imprisoned journalists after receiving information that Nuh Gönültaş and Faruk Akkan were released in different dates this year.

 

Journalist Nuh Gönültaş was placed in pre-trial detention on the charge of “membership in a terrorist organization” in November 2017, following an investigation targeting the now-defunct Foundation of Journalists and Writers (GYV). He was released in April 2022 after serving his sentence.

 

Faruk Akkan, the former director of the now-defunct Cihan News Agency who was behind bars since August 2016, was released following a Court of Cassation judgment overturning his 9-year prison sentence handed down on the charge of “membership in a terrorist organization.” He was released at the beginning of 2022.

 

Following the release of Gönültaş and Akkan, there are now at least 52 journalists in prison in Turkey either in pre-trial detention or serving a sentence.

 

The full list can be accessed here.