Jail term for journalist Rojda Oğuz; singer Gülşen released from house arrest but banned from travelling abroad; journalist Sinan Aygül arrested for not paying fine and released; journalist Tuğrul Eryılmaz’s permanent press card revoked; RTÜK fines Halk TV for 3 three separate instances 

 

Jail term for journalist Rojda Oğuz

 

The seventh hearing in the trial of journalist Rojda Oğuz on charges of “membership in a terrorist organisation” and “terrorism propaganda” was held at the Van 4th High Criminal Court on 16 September 2022.

 

Oğuz’s attorney Sedat Kulat attended the hearing, which P24 followed. Kulat stated that his client, who was being tried over press statements and demonstrations she participated in and her social media outputs, was a journalist and expressed that Rojda Oğuz was performing her duty in the alleged crimes of demonstrations and activities. Kulat stated that Oğuz’s social media posts were not terrorism propaganda and demanded her acquittal.

 

The court ruled for Oğuz’s acquittal of the crime, “membership in a terrorist organisation," but sentenced her to 18 months and 22 days in jail on charges of “terrorism propaganda." The announcement of the verdict was deferred.

 

For more details from the court hearing, click here

 

Journalist Sinan Aygül jailed for refusing to pay judicial fine

Sinan Aygül, a local journalist based in the eastern province of Bitlis, was arrested and sent to prison on 13 September after he refused to pay a court-ordered fine in a trial launched over a 2014 column.

Aygül was sentenced to pay TL 1500 for "insulting" a former lawmaker of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in his column, which included allegations of corruption involving the AKP lawmaker. In a statement in November 2021, when the verdict was announced, Aygül had stated that the sentencing was a blow to the freedom of expression and the press and vowed not to pay the judicial fine.

After the finalization of the decision, a warrant was issued for Aygül's arrest, on the basis of which he was taken into custody at the Bitlis Courthouse. Aygül was then sent to Bitlis Type E Prison. The journalist was released under the pandemic measures the following day.

 

Journalist Tuğrul Eryılmaz’s permanent press card revoked

 

The permanent press card of journalist Tuğrul Eryılmaz was revoked by a decision of the Directorate of Communications of the Presidency dated 2 September 2022.

Eryılmaz said in a column published on 16 September that the decision of the Directorate of Communications was justified on the basis of his "actions harmful to national security."

Eryılmaz had held the permanent press card, which is issued for journalists carrying out journalistic activities for 20 years on end. Eryılmaz was issued his first press card in 1975 after he started his career as a journalist at the TRT News Office.

 

RTÜK fines Halk TV in 3 separate instances

The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) has fined opposition Halk TV over the content of three of its news programs.

According to İlhan Taşcı, a member of the RTÜK from the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), RTÜK handed out Halk TV a fine of five-times program suspension and a 5-percent administrative fine due to the “Sözüm Var” program, which criticized a father being handed over the bones of his son in a bag by the Diyarbakır Courthouse, for “broadcasting in a manner serving the goals of terrorism."

Taşcı said the RTÜK has handed out a 3-percent administrative fine to the Halk TV for “defaming” Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu over Ayşenur Arslan’s “Medya Mahallesi” program, where she and guest Mustafa Sönmez criticized Soylu’s approach to combating crime. The RTÜK also fined the channel for 3 percent of advertisement revenues over the CHP MP Ali Mahir Başarır’s remarks over "narco-state" in the “Sözüm Var” program.

 

File of journalists Çapraz, Oğuz merged with Leyla Güven’s

The third hearing of the trial of Erkan Çapraz, the publisher of Yüksekova News Portal and Ömer Oğuz, publishing coordinator of the portal on charges of “terrorism propaganda” was held at the Hakkari 1st High Criminal Court on 12 September 2022.

 

Çapraz did not attend the hearing, while Oğuz attended via the judicial video-conferencing sytem (SEGBİS). At the previous hearing, the court had demanded that the files be merged by drafting a letter to the Diyarbakır 9th High Criminal Court. The court rejected the request to merge the cases at the 7 September hearing in Güven’s trial. After the rejection, Jindar Uçar, attorney for Oğuz and Çapraz, made a statement. Uçar demanded the acquittal of his clients by stating that the sentencing of former Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) MP Leyla Güven in the trial held at the Diyarbakır 9th High Criminal Court did not constitute a criminal responsibility for his clients due to the principle of individual criminal responsibility.

 

The prosecutor of the hearing then demanded that the files of Leyla Güven and journalists be merged by claiming that there were actual and legal connections between trials of Leyla Güven and journalists.

 

Attorney Uçar stated that the opinion of the prosecution remained unchanged from the previous hearing and demanded that the file be sent to the prosecution for the opinion of the prosecution as to the accusations to be prepared by stating that there were no actual and legal connections between the two files.

 

The court ruled for the files to be merged after announcing its decision that there were actual and legal connections between the files.

 

Journalist İsmail Çoban whose sentence has been approved is to face retrial

 

The sentencing handed out to former editor-in-chief of Azadiya Welat newspaper İsmail Çoban, who is held at Mersin Tarsus No 3 T Type Closed Prison, over keeping copies of the Özgürlükçü Demokrasi newspaper in his ward has been finalised. Following the finalisation of the sentence, Çoban will face retrial for the previous sentencing which had been deferred.

 

In March 2022, the Tarsus 8th Criminal Court of First Instance sentenced Çoban to imprisonment of 2 years, over bringing in copies and clippings of the Özgürlükçü Demokrasi newspaper into the prison despite the prison ban on the newspaper. Upon finalisation of the sentence, the court sent a notice to the Diyarbakır 5th High Criminal Court, which had deferred its imprisonment sentence for Çoban on charges of “terrorism propaganda." The notice asserted that Çoban should face retrial for his sentence that had been deferred.

 

Upon accepting the notice and reviewing the file, the Diyarbakır 5th High Criminal Court overturned its ruling for “deferring the announcement of the verdict” over the charge of “terrorism propaganda” due to Çoban’s latest sentence. The court has set the first hearing of Çoban’s retrial on 29 November 2022.

 

Çoban had been previously sentenced to imprisonment of 20 months and 25 days on charges of “terrorism propaganda” by the Diyarbakır High Criminal Court and the announcement of the verdict had been deferred.

 

AKP MP sues journalists Doğan Ergün, İzel Sezer for damages

 

İzel Sezer, the editor-in-chief of İleri Haber, announced in a tweet  on 16 September 2022 that Ali İhsan Arslan, AKP MP for Ankara had filed for damages against her and Doğan Ergün, a writer for the news portal.

 

Sezer shared the decision dated 19 August 2022 by the Ankara 20th Civil Court of First Instance and wrote “We have a brand-new suit for damages… This time, the plaintiff is AKP MP Ali İhsan Arslan. We do not know the contents of the lawsuit yet, because although our whereabouts are known and we spend half of the week at the courthouse, neither the court nor the police could find where we were.”

 

The litigation petition submitted by Arslan’s lawyer Reşat Yıldırım on 2 February 2022 with the Civil Court of First Instance on Duty of Ankara claims damages of TL 20,000 over the news item titled, “a game of tenders worth millions at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry” including “lies and slander."

 

Journalists on trial in the Özgürlükçü Demokrasi case allowed time to supplement the defence

 

The fifth hearing in the retrial of former employees of Özgürlükçü Demokrasi newspaper, which was shut down in 2018 by statutory decree, was held at the İstanbul 23rd High Criminal Court on 15 September 2022. The retrial commenced following the overturning of imprisonment sentences and acquittal rulings by the Appellate Court.

 

Defense attorneys Özcan Kılıç, Sercan Korkmaz and Meral Hanbayat attended the hearing, which P24 followed.

 

The prosecutor repeated their opinion as to the basis read out at the hearing on 7 April 2022 and sought conviction against editors Hicran Urun, Mehmet Ali Çelebi and Reyhan Hacıoğlu, editor-in-chief İshak Yasul, publisher İhsan Yaşar and staff manager Pınar Tarlak on charges of “membership in a terrorist organisation," “terrorism propaganda” and “continuously printing and publishing illegal organisation publications." The prosecutor demanded that Mizgin Fendik, who oversaw distributing the newspaper in Hakkari’s Yüksekova district, be acquitted for not being accountable for the contents of the newspaper in “distributing the newspaper as part of his employment.”

 

Attorney Korkmaz, representing all defendants said, “All allegations are based on news items published in the newspaper. It has been alleged that the news items were propaganda. Because of this, there is a view that it should be taken as ‘aiding the organisation.' However, the allegation of aiding is not based on concrete evidence. It does not constitute a crime.” Kılıç, another attorney representing all defendants repeated his previous statements and demanded that judicial review measures be lifted and defendants be acquitted.

 

The court rejected the demands to lift judicial review measures and ruled to have Urun, Çelebi, Hacıoğlu and Yasul prepare additional defense statements and evidence against the charge of “aiding the organisation." The court adjourned the trial until 21 December 2022.

 

Journalist Rabia Önver appears before court

 

The first hearing in the trial of JinNews reporter Rabia Önver on charges of “terrorism propaganda” was held at the Van 2nd High Criminal Court on 13 September 2022.

Önver was present at the hearing, while her attorney Günay Karataş attended through the judicial video-conferencing system (SEGBİS).

 

Önver rejected the charge in her defensive statement and stated that her social media posts fell under the scope of the freedom of speech.

 

Önver’s attorney Karataş underlined that the investigation concerning her client was unlawfully carried out by the law enforcement without the prosecutor’s knowledge. Karataş demanded her client’s acquittal by stating, “The allegation is based not only on Twitter shares, but output on several platforms. As part of her profession, my client has the right to prepare news and report. None of the outputs contain elements of the crime of propaganda."

 

The prosecutor provided their opinion as to the basis at the first hearing of the trial and sought conviction against Önver over the impugned crime. Attorney Karataş requested additional time to prepare written statements against the opinion of the prosecution. The court accepted the demand and the trial was adjourned until 23 September 2022.

 

Prosecution demands sentencing for actor İlyas Salman

 

The first hearing in the trial of actor İlyas Salman on charges of “denigration of the Turkish nation, the Republic of Turkey, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, the Government of Turkey and state’s judicial organs” under Article 301 of the Turkish Criminal Code was held at the Anadolu 54th Criminal Court of First Instance on 13 September 2022.

 

Salman’s attorney Özgür Murat Büyük was present at the hearing which Salman did not attend.

 

The prosecutor provided their opinion as to the basis at the first hearing and sought conviction against Salman on charges of “denigration of the Turkish nation" over the expression “akılsız halk” (“the foolish public”) he used during an interview broadcasted on Yol TV on 23 January 2021.

Salman’s attorney Büyük demanded additional time to prepare written statements against the opinion of the prosecution. The court accepted the demand and the trial was adjourned until 1 December 2022.

 

Singer Gülşen released from house arrest but banned from travelling abroad

 

Singer Gülşen Bayraktar Çolakoğlu, who goes by the stage name Gülşen and was arrested after being targeted due to some statements she made four months ago, had been released on condition of house arrest. Gülşen’s house arrest was lifted by the İstanbul 7th High Criminal Court on 12 September 2022. She has been banned from travelling abroad and has to check in the nearest police station once a week.

 

Gülşen was arrested at her home in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district on 25 August 2022 due to what she said about religious schools in Turkey while joking with a player in her band during a concert in April. After her statement was taken at the prosecutor’s office, Gülşen was sent to the Criminal Court of Peace on Duty the same day with a request for her arrest. She was then arrested on charges of “inciting the public to hatred and enmity” and was sent to Bakırköy Closed Women’s Prison. After the four-day custody period, Gülşen was released on condition of house arrest on 29 August.

 

The 48-page indictment, which was prepared against Gülşen lists 702 complainants. Gülşen is to appear before the court on 21 October 2022.

 

Trial of journalist Baransel Ağca adjourned

 

The first hearing in the trial of journalist Baransel Ağca on charges of “illegally obtaining or disseminating personal data” to be held at the Elazığ 8th Criminal Court of First Instance on 13 September 2022 was adjourned to a later date due to the judge submitting an excuse for not attending.

Ağca is on trial for sharing the autopsy and toxicology reports on social media of Yeldana Kaharman, who was found dead at her home in Elazığ on 28 March 2019 under suspicious circumstances.

 

Journalist Sultan Keleş’s trial adjourned until February

The first hearing in the trial of journalist Sultan Eylem Keleş on charges of “insulting a public official” and “prevention of public duty” was held at the İstanbul 56th Criminal Court of First Instance on 13 September 2022.

 

Keleş’s attorneys attended the hearing, which P24 followed. Keleş’s attorneys stated that Keleş would be present at the next hearing and added that they would provide defensive statements after their client’s statement was taken.

 

The court ruled that the complainants be brought before the court by force and adjourned the hearing until 16 February 2023.

 

Keleş was detained during a police intervention against a demonstration of BİMEKS workers outside the Boğaziçi University campus. The BİMEKS workers had been protesting being laid off without receiving salaries and compensation outside Boğaziçi University, where their employer Prof. Dr. Vedat Akgiray is a lecturer. The statements of four complainant police officers were provided as evidence for Keleş’s alleged crime.

 

Appeal hearing over journalist Alican Uludağ’s sentencing postponed

 

The appeal hearing of journalist Alican Uludağ for the imprisonment sentence of 10 months on charges of "marking officials assigned in the fight against terrorism as targets” over Uludağ’s tweet regarding the former Chief Public Prosecutor of Ankara Yüksel Kocaman was held at the 22nd Criminal Chambers of the Circuit Court of Appeal of Ankara on 14 September 2022.

 

Uludağ’s attorney Semih Ecer demanded his client’s acquittal by stating, “My client is a journalist, while the co-plaintiff party is the subject of discussion and shares due to a wedding they held. My client shared outputs within the scope of the freedom of expression.” Co-plaintiff’s attorney Şuranur Başgül stated that Uludağ’s tweets fell beyond the scope of criticism and claimed that his client Kocaman as a public official was being made a potential target with false allegations. Başgül demanded that the court reject Uludağ’s appeal request.

 

The prosecution demanded additional time to prepare the opinion of the prosecution as to the accusations. The court accepted the demand in the absence of the president of the panel of judges and adjourned the hearing until 23 November 2022.

The Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office of Ankara had previously prepared an indictment concerning Uludağ over his tweet regarding Kocaman, who visited President Erdoğan shortly after a luxurious wedding at the Sheraton Ankara Hotel. After the indictment was accepted, the trial commenced at the Ankara 18th High Criminal Court on 2 December 2020 and Uludağ was sentenced to imprisonment of 10 months at the second hearing on 3 February 2021.

 

The trial of Can Bursalı, Barış Terkoğlu, Independent Turkish adjourned until December

 

The second hearing of the compensation case against journalists Barış Terkoğlu and Can Bursalı and Independent Turkish filed by the complaint of Mustafa Doğan İnal, former attorney for President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, was held at the İstanbul 11th Civil Court of First Instance on 13 September 2022.

 

Can Bursalı, Independent Turkish’s attorney and co-plaintiff İnal’s attorney were present at the hearing, which P24 followed. Terkoğlu’s attorney participated in the hearing via the e-hearing system.

 

Co-plaintiff Mustafa Doğan İnal’s attorney demanded that the case for compensation be accepted. Attorney for Independent Turkish and Terkoğlu demanded the action to be rejected due to the authenticity of the news item.

 

The court ruled to wait for the response to the notice sent to the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality requesting information of the amount, date and relevant court cases for representation fees paid to complainant İnal. The trial was adjourned until 6 December 2022.

 

In his book Cendere, Terkoğlu had alleged that İnal, Erdoğan's former attorney, received retainer’s fees worth TL 15 million from the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality and Bursalı wrote about these allegations in his reporting for Independent Turkish. İnal filed for TL 100,000 compensation from Terkoğlu, Bursalı and Independent Turkish each over allegations that his personal rights had been harmed.

 

Trial of İzel Sezer, Doğan Ergül adjourned

 

The third hearing in the trial of former editor-in-chief Doğan Ergün and present editor-in-chief İzel Sezer of İleri Haber was held at the İstanbul 33rd Criminal Court of First Instance on 13 September 2022. Ergün and Sezer are being tried on charges of “public defamation," “illegally disclosing data obtained through recording private conversation between persons through press and broadcasting organisations” and “libel” in case initiated by the complaint of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s former attorney Mustafa Doğan İnal for reporting on allegations of “bargaining for bribes."

 

Sezer and her attorney and intervener İnal’s attorney were present at the hearing, which P24 followed.

 

Co-plaintiff İnal’s attorney stated that they upheld their complaint and requested that the defendants’ and defendants’ attorneys’ demand for witnesses to be called to be refused. Ergün and Sezer’s attorney Urfa requested Barış Terkoğlu, author of the book Cendere who was named in the content of the reporting; and Workers' Party of Turkey (TİP) İstanbul MP Ahmet Şık, who posted the tweets in question to be called as witnesses to demonstrate the truth of the alleged defamation.

 

The court refused calling Ahmet Şık and Barış Terkoğku as witnesses on the grounds that it would not be relevant to the trial. The prosecutor for the hearing requested the file to be sent to the prosecutor's office to prepare their opinion as to the basis. The court decided to send the case file to the prosecutor's office and adjourned the trial until 8 December 2022.

 

Police officers accused of perpetrating violence against Biçici absent at hearing

 

The trial of five police officers who are accused of perpetrating violence against dokuz8HABER editor-in-chief Gökhan Biçici as he was covering the Gezi Park protests on charges of “causing bodily harm by surpassing limits on the authority to use force," “defamation” and “violation of the freedom to work and employment” continued with the 13th hearing held at the İstanbul 48th Criminal Court of First Instance on 13 September 2022.

 

Biçici and his attorneys were attended the hearing, which P24 monitored. The defendant police officers and their attorneys were absent.

 

The prosecutor, who had demanded the case to be dismissed for all defendants due to the statute of limitations at the previous hearing said “Review of the case has revealed circumstances that prevents the statute of limitations from applying to some defendants. In this respect, we demand that the trial continues.”

Biçici’s attorney Metin İriz said “We uphold our claim that the crime of torture was committed. We demand the defendants are asked to prepare additional defence for this allegation.” İriz demanded an expansion of inquiry and stated they would like to call witnesses. The court accepted the request for calling witnesses and adjourned the case until 22 November 2022.

 

No verdict in the Semiha Şahin, Pınar Gayıp case due to change of panel of judges

 

The 19th hearing of the trial of four people, including Etkin News Agency (ETHA) editor Semiha Şahin and reporter Pınar Gayıp, on charges of “membership of an organisation” and “organisation propaganda” was held at the İstanbul 23rd High Criminal Court on 16 September 2022.

 

Attorneys who were notified that the court would not reach a verdict due to the change in the panel of judges excused themselves from attending the hearing. The hearing was held summarily, and the trail was adjourned until 2 November 2022.

 

The prosecutor, who had delivered the opinion of the prosecution as to the basis at the hearing on 22 March 2022 had sought conviction against Şahin and Gayıp on the impugned crimes. Şahin and Gayıp’s attorneys had made a statement on the prosecution’s opinion as to the basis and the demanded the acquittal of their clients at the hearing on 26 May 2022. The court had adjourned the trial until 16 September to review the case.

 

Hüseyin Aykol, Reyhan Çapan’s trial adjourned until November

 

The 23rd hearing of the trial in which the former co-editor-in-chief Hüseyin Aykol, managing editor Reyhan Çapan and some contributors to Özgür Gündem newspaper, which was shut down by statutory decree are charged with “terrorism propaganda” and “praising an offense or offender” was held at the İstanbul 13th High Criminal Court on 10 May 2022.

 

Aykol and Çapan’s attorney presented an excuse not to attend. The court, which held the hearing summarily, adjourned the trial until 15 November 2022 to await the execution of detention orders issued for some defendants.

 

Order for detention of Ziya Çiçekçi upheld

The 10th hearing in the trial in which journalist Ziya Çiçekci faces the charge of “terrorism propaganda” due to some social media output on the accounts of the Yeni Özgür Politika newspaper was held at the İstanbul 33rd High Criminal Court on 9 September 2022.

The hearing, which Çiçekci and his attorney did not attend, was held summarily. The court upheld the order for the detention of Çiçekçi and adjourned the trial until 27 December 2022 to await the execution of the order.

At least 69 journalists, media employees behind bars in Turkey 

There are at least 69 journalists and media employees who are in prison either pending trial or serving sentence in Turkey as of 21 September 2022.

The full list can be accessed here.