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.
20 journalists arrested in Diyarbakır; Dicle Müftüoğlu released after 4 days in custody; journalist Zübeyde Sarı indicted over social media posts
20 journalists arrested in Diyarbakır
21 people, including 20 journalists, were detained in the morning hours of 8 June 2022 as part of an investigation launched by the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor's Office. Police raided the homes of journalists and confiscated digital materials.
Computers, hard disks, as well as some books and magazines, were also seized during a simultaneous police raid on the JinNews news agency's headquarters in Yenişehir, Diyarbakır. While 20 of the detained journalists were kept in the Anti-Terror Department of the Diyarbakır Police Directorate, Feynaz Koçuk, a production company employee who was detained in Gebze, was yet to be brought to the city as of late 8 June.
Journalists detained as part of the investigation are as follows: Co-chair of Dicle Fırat Journalists Association Serdar Altan, JinNews director Safiye Alagaş, Mezopotamya news agency editor Aziz Oruç, JinNews editor Gülşen Koçuk, journalists Ömer Çelik, Suat Doğuhan, Ramazan Geciken, Lezgin Akdeniz, Abdurrahman Öncü, Kadir Bayram, Esmer Tunç, Neşe Toprak, Zeynel Abidin Bulut, Mazlum Doğan Güler, Mehmet Şahin, Elif Üngür, Mehmet Ali Ertaş, İbrahim Koyuncu, Mehmet Yalçın and Remziye Temel.
The prosecutor’s office imposed a confidentiality order on the investigation file and restricted the lawyers’ access to the arrest warrants, saying that the operation was still ongoing.
Dicle Müftüoğlu released
Dicle Fırat Journalists’ Association (DFG) Co-Chair and Mezopotamya Agency editor Dicle Müftüoğlu was released on judicial control measures on 6 June 2022.
Van Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office had launched an investigation against Müftüoğlu for “financing terrorism,” reportedly for depositing money in a bank account for imprisoned journalists Ziya Ataman and Nedim Türfent. Müftüoğlu had been taken into custody at the Diyarbakır Provincial Security Directoroate where she went to give her statement as part of an investigation on 6 June.
After four days in custody, Müftüoğlu was taken to the Diyarbakır Courthouse on June 6. Giving her statement at the Diyarbakır Courthouse to the Van Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office via the judicial videoconferencing system (SEGBİS), Müftüoğlu was then referred to the Van Criminal Judgeship of Peace on Duty.
In her statement to the judge, Müftüoğlu said that she had deposited money to act in solidarity with Nedim Türfent and Ziya Ataman, who were correspondents for the shuttered Dicle News Agency (DİHA) at the time she was serving as the chief editor. Müftüoğlu’s lawyer Resul Temur noted that the money deposited cannot be considered as financing and that it was an act in solidarity with the imprisoned journalists.
The judgeship released Müftüoğlu on judicial control measure after her statement.
Journalist Zübeyde Sarı faces new trial over social media post
Journalist Zübeyde Sarı is charged with “inciting hatred and hostility among people” over her social media posts in a new trial.
Sarı’s social media posts and a report prepared by the Police Anti-Cyber Crime Unit were cited as evidence in the indictment prepared by the Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. The indictment seeks conviction against Sarı for “provoking people of Kurdish ethnic origin against the people of Turkish ethnic origin.”
The indictment was accepted by the Bakırköy 24th Criminal Court of First Instance. The first court hearing will be held on 16 June 2022.
HSK refuses to sanction judges who disregarded top court's judgment in Mehmet Altan trial
The Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK) has dismissed the complaints filed against four judges, who refused to rule for the release of academic and writer Mehmet Altan despite the Constitutional Court’s and the European Court of Human Rights’ (ECtHR) judgments against his detention.
Altan’s lawyer Figen Albuga Çalıkuşu, who has been lodging complaints with the HSK on the matter since 2018, argued in her petitions that the judges had committed a crime by rendering a verdict that ran counter to the judgments of the ECtHR and the Constitutional Court. The HSK, however, refused to process the petitions first on 24 November 2020 and for a second time on 8 March 2021.
Altan was arrested in September 2016 on the charges of “attempting to overthrow the government,” “membership in a terrorist organization” and “terrorism propaganda.” He was held in pre-trial detention for nearly two years before being released in June 2018. In January 2018, the Constitutional Court ruled against Altan's detention while in March, the ECtHR also issued a similar judgement. Altan, however, was not released despite the Constitutional Court or the ECtHR judgments, until his case was taken up by an appellate court, which ordered his release on 27 June 2018.
Journalist Cihan Ölmez’s trial adjourned until November
The fourth court hearing in the trial of journalist Cihan Ölmez, who is charged with “spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization” over his social media posts and statements he gave to the press during military operations in the pre-dominantly Kurdish town of Cizre from 2015 to 2016, was held at the Diyarbakır 5th High Criminal Court on 7 June 2022.
In December 2021, the Diyarbakır court had issued an arrest warrant against Ölmez, who is abroad, so that he could be brought to the court to give his defense statement. In its interim decision issued at the end of the hearing, the court decided to wait for the execution of that warrant and adjourned the trial until 22 November 2022.
İzel Sezer faces investigation over news report
An investigation was launched against İzel Sezer, the chief editor of İleri Haber news portal, over a news report published on 29 March 2022. Sezer announced the investigation in a Twitter post on 9 June.
The report in question concerned alleged mistreatment of a resident of a public nursing home operated by the Ministry of Family and Social Policies. Sezer's report said that two bureaucrats, namely Director General of Services for Persons with Disabilities and the Elderly Orhan Koç and his deputy Önal İnaltekin, had been removed from their jobs after the allegations were published in the media.
As part of the investigation launched upon a complaint filed by İnaltekin, Sezer was summoned by the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office to testify.
Trial of former Cumhuriyet employees adjourned
The third hearing in the trial of former Cumhuriyet journalists Hazal Ocak, Serkan Ozan, Olcay Büyüktaş Akça and Ozan Yurtoğlu on charges of “insult” and “slander” was held at the İstanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance on 7 June 2022.
The journalists are on trial upon a complaint filed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s son, Bilal Erdoğan, over a news story published on 31 January 2021 in the Cumhuriyet daily. The story was titled “Burak ve Bilal Erdoğan’ın arkadaşı Başçı, Gaziantep’te de 26,4 milyonluk 5 ihale aldı: Arkadaş ihale zengini” (Burak and Bilal Erdoğan’s friend Başçı won 5 public tenders worth TL 26.4 million in Gaziantep, too: The friend enriched by tenders).
In their final opinion on the case submitted to the court at the previous hearing, the prosecutor demanded that the journalists be convicted of “systematic insult.”
Journalists Ocak, Ozan and Yurtoğlu attended the hearing, which was monitored by P24.
Reiterating their previous defense statements, Ozan, Yurtoğlu and Ocak demanded their acquittal. The defendants’ lawyer Damla Çaltepe also demanded that her clients be acquitted, stating that there was no element of insult in the news article in question.
The court adjourned the trial until 8 November 2022 to review the defendants’ statements.
Journalist Canan Kaya appears before court in compensation case
The first hearing in a compensation case filed by the Demirören Media Group against journalist Canan Kaya was held on 7 June 2022 at the İstanbul 18th Civil Court of First Instance.
The Demirören Media Group sued Kaya for an article she wrote on 26 November 2021, titled “Demirören yolun sonuna yaklaşıyor: Ziraat Bankası ‘kayyumları’ ne istedi? Tarihleriyle açıklıyoruz!” (Demirören is nearing the end of the road: What did Ziraat Bank 'trustees' want? We expose with dates!), and demanded TL 20,000 in compensation.
Kaya, her lawyer Erselan Aktan and the lawyers representing Demirören group attended the hearing.
Lawyer Aktan said that the news article in question was prepared in line with the law and journalism ethics, and demanded dismissal of the case.
The court adjourned the trial until 1 November 2022, ruling to send writs to relevant authorities to provide the evidence requested by the parties and wait for the Police Directorate to provide a report on the social and economic status of Kaya.
“KCK Press Trial” adjourned until November
The “KCK Press Trial,” in which 46 journalists and media workers are charged with “membership in a terrorist organization”, “managing a terrorist organization” and “terrorism propaganda”, resumed at the Istanbul 3rd High Criminal Court on 9 June 2022. This was the 25th hearing of the trial, which has been continuing since 2012.
Some of the lawyers representing the defendants attended the hearing, which was monitored by P24.
Rawin Sterk's lawyer, Sercan Korkmaz, recalled that the KCK Press file is being investigated by the Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK) due to the alleged irregularities committed by the Investigating Prosecutor Bilal Bayraktar in the files. Korkmaz said, “Prosecutor Bayraktar carried out many irregular processes in this case, thus we demand that the results of the investigation be awaited.”
Accepting Korkmaz’s request, the court adjourned the case until 1 November 2022.
Journalist Barış Pehlivan says he is receiving threats for column
Barış Pehlivan, a columnist for Cumhuriyet newspaper, announced on his social media account that he has been threatened over a column by people who claim to be close to a person that was cited in the article as a crime ring leader. The article was about one of the criminal group's members who was released on judicial control measures.
“I have been receiving credible threats from people who claim to be acquainted with Fırat Delibaş. See my article below,” Pehlivan said in a tweet on 9 June.
At least 52 journalists, media employees behind bars
As of 12 June 2022, at least 52 journalists and media staff are in prison either pending trial or serving sentence in Turkey.
The full list can be accessed here.