Journalist Mehmet Şah Oruç suffers medical emergency in prison; Furkan Karabay charged with “marking persons assigned with the fight against terrorism as a target” in new case; Barış Pehlivan imprisoned for fifth time; Hayri Demir faces new compensation case

 

Journalist Mehmet Şah Oruç suffers medical emergency in prison

Journalist Mehmet Şah Oruç, who is currently jailed pending trial in the Diyarbakır No. 1 High Security Closed Prison, has suffered a medical emergency due to prison conditions.

 

Oruç, who became ill due to dehydration caused by extreme heat, was taken to the Diyarbakır Gazi Yaşargil Hospital on 12 August 2023. Oruç was sent back to prison after receiving treatment for two days at the hospital.

 

Furkan Karabay charged with “marking persons assigned with the fight against terrorism as a target” in new case

Journalist Furkan Karabay is charged with “marking persons assigned with the fight against terrorism as a target” in a new case where the accusation stems from the journalist’s social media posts covering the alleged meetings between former Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor İrfan Fidan and Nuri Gökhan Bozkır, a suspect in the assassination of academic Necip Hablemitoğlu.

 

Nine Twitter posts Karabay shared on 12 January 2023 are held as evidence against the journalist in the two-page indictment, issued on 30 July 2023.

 

The indictment claims that Karabay “took advantage of the convenience brought by the profession of journalism to mark then Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor İrfan Fidan, who carried out numerous important investigations including the Selam-Tevhit conspiracy, MİT trucks Tahşiye conspiracy, Poyrazköy conspiracy, conspiracy against Fenerbahçe; and who fought against the armed terrorist organizations such as PKK, DAEŞ [ISIS], FETÖ/PDY, as a target by sharing posts on a public social media platform.”

 

The prosecution demanded that “successive crime” provisions be applied in the case against Karabay “because the offense had been committed more than once.”

 

The indictment was accepted by the Ankara 4th High Criminal Court, which has set 2 November 2023 as the date for Karabay’s first hearing.

 

Journalist Barış Pehlivan imprisoned for fifth time

Journalist Barış Pehlivan was imprisoned for a fifth time on 15 August 2023 to serve the remainder of a prison sentence of 3 years and 9 months he was given in 2020 over Odatv’s coverage of the funeral of a National Intelligence Organization (MİT) operative killed in Libya.

 

Pehlivan was sent to the Marmara (formerly Silivri) Open Prison. In his article published in Cumhuriyet on the first day of his re-imprisonment, Pehlivan wrote that he knew he had “no life safety” in prison.

 

Pehlivan had remained behind bars in pre-trial detention for six months in 2020 as part of the case. His sentence was upheld and finalized by an appellate court in Istanbul in 2022, upon which he went back to prison for one day before being released on probation.

 

Pehlivan, whose latest request for probation was denied, was exempted from a new law enacted in July that prevented convicts on Covid-19 leave from returning to prison. In case an objection filed by Pehlivan’s lawyer against his imprisonment is also rejected, the journalist will have to spend about eight months in the open prison.

 

Journalist Hayri Demir faces new compensation case

Journalist Hayri Demir is facing a new lawsuit filed by the rector of a university in Istanbul. Maltepe University Rector Edibe Sözen is seeking TL 20,000 in non-pecuniary damages in the lawsuit, claiming that her “personal rights had been violated due to Demir’s unfounded and untrue reports.”

 

The lawsuit was accepted by the Istanbul 8th Civil Court of First Instance.

 

In an article published on Gazete Pencere on 3 April 2023, journalist Demir wrote that Sözen was an admin for a WhatsApp group that had been established to coordinate social media campaigns to support the ruling AKP in the run-up to the elections. Upon a complaint filed by Sözen’s lawyer, the content of Demir’s report was removed and access to the article was blocked by a decision of the Istanbul 8th Criminal Judgeship of Peace on 7 April 2023.

 

Investigation launched against MA report covering bribery allegations

An investigation has been launched against Mezopotamya News Agency (MA) Concessionaire Ferhat Çelik on account of a report titled “AKP’li Artuklu Belediyesi’nde rüşvet havuzu” (bribery pool in AKP-run Artuklu Municipality).

 

Çelik recently went to the Feriköy Police Station in Istanbul and gave his statement as part of the investigation carried out by the Mardin Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. Çelik stated in his statement that the allegations covered in the report were newsworthy and that it did not constitute a crime.

 

DHA Ankara Regional Director injured in violent attack

Demirören News Agency (DHA) Ankara Regional Director Ersin Ercan suffered a violent attack in Zonguldak province on 15 August.

 

Ercan was reportedly attacked by three people with baseball bats in front of a tennis court in the Yayla neighborhood of Zonguldak. Ercan, who was taken to the hospital as a result of the attack, had a broken rib and also suffered injury in his lungs.

 

The police are looking for the suspects who carried out the attack while the reason behind the attack is not yet clear.

 

At least 44 journalists and media workers in prison

Following the imprisonment of journalist Barış Pehlivan earlier this week, as of 18 August 2023 there are at least 44 journalists and media workers in prison in Turkey, either in pre-trial detention or serving a sentence.

 

The full list can be accessed here.