Mustafa Mert Bildircin sentenced for “insulting the president;” Furkan Karabay given judicial fine; Ferhat Çelik detained; journalists Ruşen Takva and Oktay Candemir to stand trial on “disinformation” charge

 

Journalist Mustafa Mert Bildircin sentenced for “insulting the president”

 

The fourth hearing of BirGün reporter Mustafa Mert Bildircin’s trial on the charge of “insulting the president” was held at the İstanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance on 18 May 2023.

 

The accusation stems from a report titled “Karanlık Sarmalı” (Spiral of Darkness), published in the newspaper on 13 January 2022.

 

The prosecutor reiterated their final opinion, first presented on 11 April 2023, requesting that Bildircin be sentenced as charged.

 

In their defense statement, Bildircin’s lawyer Tolgay Güvercin said the elements of the alleged offense were not present and requested his client’s acquittal.

 

Rendering its judgment at the end of the hearing, the court sentenced Bildircin to 11 months and 20 days in prison and deferred the sentence.

 

In Bildircin’s report, the president’s name is mentioned only once, in a sentence that reads: “The son of AKP Chairman and President Erdoğan, Bilal Erdoğan [...].”

 

Furkan Karabay handed judicial fine

 

The second hearing of a compensation case filed by President Erdoğan’s former lawyer Mustafa Doğan İnal against Gerçek Gündem news portal editor Furkan Karabay was held at the İstanbul 44th Civil Court on 25 May 2023.

 

İnal’s lawyer Melike Nur Bak asked the court to accept the lawsuit.

 

Ruling to partially accept the case, the court sentenced Karabay to a judicial fine of TL 20,000.

 

Although Mustafa Doğan İnal’s name was not mentioned in the social media posts dated 11 August 2022, for which Karabay is accused, İnal’s lawyer filed a lawsuit seeking TL 100,000 in non-pecuniary damages, claiming that the journalist had “attacked his personal rights.”

 

Mezopotamya Agency Publisher Ferhat Çelik taken into custody

 

Mezopotamya News Agency Concessionaire Ferhat Çelik was taken into custody at a local police station in the Kayapınar district of Diyarbakır province on 23 May 2023. Çelik had gone to the police station to give his statement as part of an investigation carried out by the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.

 

Following the completion of procedures at the police department, Çelik was brought to the Diyarbakır Courthouse, where he was released under a ban on traveling abroad.

 

A total of 191 people were taken into custody in police raids carried out across 21 provinces on 25 April as part of the same investigation. Among those detained, 50 people including journalists and lawyers were arrested and sent to prison.

 

Also on 23 May, Mezopotamya Music Coordinator Aslan Aydoğan was detained upon landing in Diyarbakır on a flight from Germany.

 

Investigation launched against Eren Keskin and Güllistan Yarkın

 

Human Rights Foundation (İHD) Co-Chairperson Eren Keskin and writer Güllistan Yarkın are facing a new investigation for holding an Armenian genocide remembrance event. Keskin and Yarkın went to the Police Department on 22 May to give their statements as part of the investigation.

 

Journalist Yüsra Batıhan faces investigation for alleged “disinformation”

 

Mezopotamya News Agency reporter Yüsra Batıhan is facing the allegation of “publicly disseminating false information” in a new investigation launched by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office on account of her social media posts about the deadly earthquakes of 6 February.

 

Giving her statement at the Cebeci Police Station in Ankara, Batıhan said her posts were based on information provided by the HDP’s Crisis Coordination Center and on opinions expressed by journalists who were reporting from the region affected by the earthquake; and that they did not contain any false information.

 

Ruşen Takva to stand trial on “disinformation” charge

 

Journalist Ruşen Takva is charged with “spreading false information” in a new indictment where the accusation stems from his report on claims that the head of the Hakkâri provincial organization of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Fatih Özbek had been involved in an armed attack.

 

The indictment issued by the Hakkâri Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office was recently accepted by the Hakkâri 1st Criminal Court of First Instance, which set 19 July 2023 as the date for the first hearing of the case.

 

In a Twitter post he shared on 8 December 2022, Takva reported that Özbek had been involved in an armed attack in which one person was injured and that following the attack Özbek’s security guard had surrendered to the police.

 

Journalist Oktay Candemir to stand trial on “disinformation” charge

 

Journalist Oktay Candemir is charged with “publicly disseminating false information” in a new case that is set to get underway on 6 June 2023. Candemir is accused for reporting on a sexual abuse incident that allegedly took place in the Muradiye district of Van province.

 

Journalist Yasin Kobulan targeted on social media

 

Journalist Yasin Kobulan was targeted by a troll group on Twitter after he shared a video showing the police violently detaining a group of young people who were dancing in a park in Istanbul’s Moda quarter on 21 May 2023.

 

Journalists Sevilay Yılman and Zübeyde Sarı face “disinformation” investigation

 

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has launched an investigation against a number of social media users on the allegation that they had “spread false information” and “manipulated” public opinion during the May 14 general election. Journalists Sevilay Yılman and Zübeyde Sarı and several news portals are among those being investigated. The Prosecutor’s Office has instructed the cyber crimes unit of the police to determine the owners of the social media accounts and to take their statements.

 

Journalist Delal Akyüz released after spending one day in detention

 

Mezopotamya News Agency reporter Delal Akyüz was taken into custody in Izmir on 23 May 2023. Following the completion of procedures at the police department the next day, Akyüz was brought to the Izmir Courthouse, where a judge ordered his release under a ban on traveling abroad.

 

Akyüz was reportedly accused on account of the same acts for which he had been given a prison sentence of 1 year, 1 month and 15 days on the charge of “terrorism propaganda” during his time as a student in Mersin in 2017. Akyüz had spent 7 months in prison because of the sentence and in 2019 another case was launched against him on similar charges.

 

Kurdistan 24 TV not allowed to cover Kılıçdaroğlu-Özdağ press conference

 

Reporters from the Erbil-based Kurdistan 24 TV (K24) were not allowed to place their microphone on the lectern during a joint press conference held on 24 May 2023 by presidential candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and Victory (Zafer) Party Chairman Ümit Özdağ.

 

Despite objections from both the K24 crew and other journalists covering the press conference, Victory Party executives refused to put the channel’s microphone on the lectern, claiming that K24’s broadcasts were separatist. The K24 crew thereupon left the press conference.

 

Case against Barış Pehlivan and Mustafa Büyüksipahi to continue in September

 

The third hearing of a case in which journalist Barış Pehlivan and Cumhuriyet daily’s former Publishing Coordinator Mustafa Büyüksipahi are charged with “insulting a public official” was held at the Ankara 19th Criminal Court of First Instance on 22 May 2023. The case was launched upon a complaint filed by Hamit Kocabey, a former member of the Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK).

 

Lawyers representing the journalists and the complainant were in attendance. Although he is not currently in prison, court minutes read that Pehlivan was “in the Marmara Open Prison (on leave).”

 

Kocabey’s lawyer requested that Pehlivan and Büyüksipahi be sentenced as charged.

 

Pehlivan’s lawyer asked the court to merge the case with another ongoing case against his client, overseen by the Ankara 39th Criminal Court of First Instance and filed by the same complainant on account of the same report.

 

Kocabey’s lawyer objected and asked the court to reject the lawyer’s request, saying the case overseen by the 39th Criminal Court of First Instance was filed on account of Pehlivan’s televised remarks on Halk TV while the present case was due to his article published in Cumhuriyet.

 

Issuing an interim ruling, the judge decided that a copy of the article published on cumhuriyet.com.tr be submitted to the court and that the Istanbul Police Department submit documents about Mustafa Büyüksipahi’s job description. The court adjourned the case until 22 September 2023.

 

Case against Sibel Hürtaş to continue in September

 

The third hearing of journalist Sibel Hürtaş’s trial on the charge of “insulting a public official” was held at the Ankara 19th Criminal Court of First Instance on 22 May 2023. Hürtaş is on trial because of an article published on Artı Gerçek news portal in August 2020. The case was launched upon a complaint filed by General Subutay Adaş.

 

During the hearing, Hürtaş presented to the court the police record upon which her article was based. Hürtaş’s lawyer told the court that the personal information of Hürtaş’s source was hidden and added that the person in question was acquitted of “FETÖ”-related allegations at his trial overseen by the Ankara 25th High Criminal Court.

 

Adaş’s lawyer Serdar Öztürk claimed that Artı Gerçek news portal’s “editorial stance was aligned with the PKK and FETÖ terrorist organizations” and requested an inquiry into whether the columnists of the news portal have faced any criminal investigations on these charges.

 

The court rejected Öztürk’s request, ruling that it would not contribute to the present case. Deciding to examine the police record Hürtaş submitted to the court regarding her source, the court set 22 September 2023 as the date for the next hearing.

 

Complainant police officers granted participant status in case against Sultan Eylem Keleş

 

The third hearing of a trial in which journalist Sultan Eylem Keleş is charged with “insulting a public official” and “resisting [law enforcement] to prevent the performance of their duty” was held at the Istanbul 56th Criminal Court of First Instance on 23 May 2023.

 

P24 monitored the hearing. Keleş and the other defendant Ezgi Gözoğlu and their lawyers were in attendance.

 

In her defense statement, Gözoğlu denied the accusations. Keleş also addressed the court. Requesting her acquittal, Keleş said: “At the time of the incident I was a reporter for Artı TV. I was detained while filming the incident. My constitutional right and my right to inform the public were violated. Therefore I am not the accused but the victim in this trial.”

 

The two complainant officers who were also in attendance told the court that their complaints were continuing and requested to participate in the case.

 

Keleş’s lawyer Fatih Aydın requested his client’s acquittal while the prosecutor asked the court to grant participant status to the complainant officers.

 

Granting the officers participant status, the court adjourned the case until 19 September 2023.

 

Trial of officers who violently detained Gökhan Biçici to continue in October

 

The fifth hearing in the trial of five police officers who violently detained dokuz8HABER Editor-in-Chief Gökhan Biçici as he was covering the Gezi Park protests in 2013 took place on 23 May 2023 at the Istanbul 48th Criminal Court of First Instance. The officers are charged with “actual bodily harm by means of exceeding the limits on authority to use force,” “insult” and “violation of the freedom to work and employment.”

 

P24 monitored the hearing, which was attended by Biçici’s lawyer. The accused officers and their lawyers were not present.

 

Biçici’s lawyer Metin İriz reiterated his request for the court to rule for non-jurisdiction due to subject matter and send the case to a high criminal court.

 

The court rejected the request. Ruling to wait for the execution of the arrest warrant issued for one of the accused police officers, the court adjourned the case until 24 October 2023.

 

Case against musician Ferhat Tunç to continue in September

 

The 15th hearing of a case in which exiled musician Ferhat Tunç is charged with “inciting hatred and animosity” was held at Istanbul’s Büyükçekmece 4th Criminal Court of First Instance on 24 May 2023.

 

Tunç’s lawyer did not attend. Ruling to wait for the execution of the arrest warrant issued for Tunç, the court adjourned the case until 20 September 2023.

 

Journalists Dilan Babat and Fırat Can Arslan appear before court

 

JinNews reporter Dilan Babat and Mezopotamya News Ajansı (MA) reporter Fırat Can Arslan appeared before the Konya 2nd High Criminal Court on 25 May 2023 for the first hearing of their trial on the charge of “marking a public official assigned with the fight against terrorism as a target.”

 

Babat, Arslan and their lawyers addressed the court from the Ankara Courthouse via the judicial videoconferencing network (SEGBİS).

 

Babat denied the accusation and requested to be acquitted. Arslan told the court: “The indictment mentions the expression ‘so-called report.’ The elements of a news story are clear. So I would like to ask what made [the prosecutor] call it a ‘so-called report.’ I do not accept the allegations in the indictment. Those who blocked us should be standing trial instead of us.”

 

The journalists’ lawyer Şevin Kaya said that the report issued by the gendarmerie about the journalists was far from being objective. Asserting that her clients were being accused because they wanted to cover the funeral of Nagihan Akarsel and noting that there were no finalized sentences rendered for Akarsel, Kaya requested her clients’ acquittal.

 

The prosecutor submitted their final opinion, asking the court to sentence the journalists as charged. Ruling to wait for the preparation of the defendants’ statements in response to the prosecutor’s final opinion, the court adjourned the case until 5 October 2023.

 

Arslan and Babat were detained by the gendarmerie on 13 October 2022 while they were covering the funeral of journalist and writer Nagihan Akarsel, who was killed in an armed attack in Iraq’s Sulaymaniyah on 4 October 2022.

 

Court to wait election board’s response about journalist Ayşegül Doğan’s status as MP

 

The fourth hearing in the retrial of journalist Ayşegül Doğan on the charge of “membership in a terrorist organization” was held at the Diyarbakır 9th High Criminal Court on 25 May 2023. Doğan is a former program host and programming coordinator for the now-defunct IMC TV, which was closed under a statutory decree issued in 2016.

 

Doğan did not attend the hearing. Her lawyers requested that the proceedings against Doğan be suspended as per Article 83 of the Constitution since their client was elected a Şırnak deputy from the Party of Greens and the Left Future (YSP) in the 14 May 2023 parliamentary election and has received the official document proving her status as an MP. The lawyers also asked the court to lift the international travel ban imposed on Doğan.

 

The court decided to ask the Şırnak Provincial Election Board to submit the related documents to the court. Ordering the continuation of Doğan’s travel ban, the court set 4 October 2023 as the date for the next hearing.

 

Retrial of Önderoğlu, Fincancı and Nesin adjourned until October

 

The seventh hearing in the retrial of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Turkey representative Erol Önderoğlu, Turkish Medical Association (TTB) Central Committee President Şebnem Korur-Fincancı and journalist-writer Ahmet Nesin was held at the Istanbul 13th High Criminal Court on 25 May 2023.

 

All three are on trial for participating in 2016’s “Özgür Gündem solidarity campaign” before the pro-Kurdish daily was closed by the government.

 

Önderoğlu and his lawyer were in attendance. No other defendants or defense lawyers were present. Ruling to wait for the submission of requested documents, the court adjourned the case until 12 October 2023.

 

At least 61 journalists and media workers in prison

 

Following imprisoned journalist Cihan Acar’s release last week, as of 26 May 2023 there are at least 61 journalists and media workers in prison in Turkey, either in pre-trial detention or serving a sentence.

 

The full list can be accessed here.