Rojin Altay sentenced to prison at first hearing; Bilal Güldem threatened by AKP and HÜDA-PAR affiliated accounts; bodyguards who attacked Sinan Aygül released; ruling for continued imprisonment of 2 journalists

 

Court rules to keep journalist Abdurrahman Gök in prison

The trial of jailed journalist Abdurrahman Gök on charges of “membership in a terrorist organization” and “terrorism propaganda” began at the Diyarbakır 5th High Criminal Court on 14 September 2023. Gök was detained and subsequently jailed pending trial on 27 April 2023.

P24 monitored the hearing, where Gök and his lawyers were in attendance.

Following defense statements by Gök’s lawyers, the prosecutor requested the continuation of Gök's pre-trial detention.

Announcing its interim ruling, the court decided to hear witness testimonies and to keep Gök in prison.

The next hearing in the trial is scheduled for 5 December 2023.

For details, see our report.

Tatvan Mayor's bodyguards who assaulted journalist Sinan Aygül released

The first hearing in the trial of the two imprisoned bodyguards of Tatvan District Mayor Mehmet Geylani on the charge of “causing willful injury with arms” for assaulting journalist Sinan Aygül was held at the Tatvan 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance on 14 September 2023.

Aygül and his lawyers attended the hearing, which P24 monitored.

Following defense statements, Aygül’s lawyers requested the continuation of the defendants' pre-trial detention. Presenting their opinion, the prosecutor requested the release of both defendants given the time they spent in custody.

The court ruled to release the defendants given the time spent in custody, and the completion of the collection of evidence.

For details, see our report.

Yeni Yaşam reporter Rojin Altay sentenced at first hearing

The first hearing in Yeni Yaşam newspaper reporter Rojin Altay's trial on the charge of “terrorism propaganda” was held at the İstanbul 22nd High Criminal Court on 14 September 2023. Altay was released after being detained at İstanbul's Sabiha Gökçen Airport on 28 January 2023.

While Altay did not attend the hearing, her lawyer Özcan Kılıç was present.

The prosecutor delivered their final opinion on the case and requested sentencing for Altay.

Altay’s lawyer, who was asked to present the defense statement against the prosecutor’s opinion, said, “Bringing charges in this way over a social media post is not consistent with the Press Law.”

The court went on to issue its judgment at the end of the hearing, sentencing Altay to 1 year in prison, which is the minimum sentence prescribed in the law for “terrorism propaganda.” The court then increased Altay's sentence to 18 months on the grounds that the crime had been committed over social media. Finally, applying a deduction for “good conduct,” the court sentenced Altay to 15 months of imprisonment and deferred the sentence.

Altay was accused becuse she had retweeted a photo of Kurdish politician Sakine Cansız, who was murdered in Paris, with the expression “Direniş hayattır” (Resistance is life) on the photo.

Journalist Bilal Güldem threatened by accounts affiliated with AKP, HÜDA-PAR

Mezopotamya News Agency (MA) editor Bilal Güldem, who shared a video of children being taken to a “prayer event” in Batman, was threatened by social media accounts known to be affiliated with the AKP and HÜDA-PAR following his post.

While these accounts shared information on Güldem’s address of residence and minutes of court cases in which he was acquitted, a lawyer registered with the Bar Association of Diyarbakır was also among those who threatened Güldem on social media.

Güldem filed a complaint through his lawyers against 18 people on allegations of “insult,” “threats” and “inciting the public to hatred and animosity” with the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office on 12 September 2023.

The complaint states that Güldem received the video from a news source and shared it as part of his journalistic activities.

Prosecution of Enis Berberoğlu over the “MİT Trucks” case stayed

The first hearing in the retrial of CHP MP Enis Berberoğlu and former Cumhuriyet newspaper Ankara representative and current Adalar Mayor Erdem Gül on the publication of images showing the stopping of trucks allegedly operated by the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) was held at the İstanbul 14th High Criminal Court on 13 September 2023.

Berberoğlu’s lawyers and Gül and his lawyers attended the hearing.

In the retrial, which began following the 3rd Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals ruling to annul the previous verdict, the court ruled to stay the prosecution of Berberoğlu. The court justified its ruling on Berberoğlu having been re-elected to parliament and therefore having legislative immunity. The panel of judges further ruled to convey a writ to the Ministry of Justice for the preparation of a summary of investigation for the lifting of Berberoğlu’s legislative immunity.

The trial against Gül will proceed separately.

The final hearing in the trial of Gül and Berberoğlu on the charge of “aiding a terrorist organization without being a member” over Cumhuriyet's 2015 coverage of alleged weapons transfer to Syrian on trucks operated by MİT was held at the İstanbul 14th High Criminal Court on 15 May 2019. The court ruled to drop the case on the grounds that the nature of the crime allegedly committed by Gül had changed and the crime of “violation of the secrecy of investigation” had emerged and therefore the four-month statute of limitations as per the Press Law had been exceeded.

For Berberoğlu, the court had ruled that as he had previously been convicted of “disclosing documents that should remain confidential” over the same act, he could not be sentenced for “aiding a terrorist organization without being a member.” This ruling was annulled by the Supreme Court of Appeals in April 2023. The Supreme Court of Appeals held that Berberoğlu and Gül should have been sentenced to prison for “aiding a terrorist organization without being a member.”

Journalist Hakan Tosun pepper-sprayed and detained

Journalist Hakan Tosun wrote on his social media account on 15 September 2023 that he was targeted with pepper spray and detained while trying to record the intervention of neighborhood watchmen against a group of citizens on Kordon Street in İzmir.

Tosun recounted the neighborhood watchmen targeting his eyes with pepper spray and being handcuffed and taken to the Alsancak Police Station by the police, who arrived a few minutes later, despite telling them that he was a journalist.

Tosun also said that upon asking the police officers about the reason for his detention, he was threatened by the officers, who told him, “We are talking to you politely, if you keep insisting, we will talk to you in a way you will understand.”

Journalist Akif Beki to appear before court on charge of “insult”

Journalist Akif Beki is charged with “insult” in a new case filed over an article that was published on the website of Karar newspaper regarding Ahmet Mahmut Ünlü, better known to the public as “Cübbeli Ahmet Hoca.”

The indictment filed by the İstanbul Anadolu Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office on 31 August 2023 was accepted by the Anadolu 26th Criminal Court of First Instance.

The first hearing of Beki's case is scheduled for 10 January 2024.

The article titled “Cübbeli’nin Diyanet’le alıp veremediği” (The trouble between Cübbeli and [the Presidency of] Religious Affairs) was published on Karar's online edition on 22 July 2022.

Cypriot journalist sentenced in Turkey for “insulting the president”

Şener Levent, the editor-in-chief of the daily Avrupa published in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC) was sentenced to 11 months and 20 days of in prison for “insulting the president” over his article “Kürtler ve biz” (The Kurds and us).

Levent was notified of the court ruling dated 10 March 2023 in August. Levent did not share information on the court which issued the ruling. Levent said that he had been tried in absentia and that he did not recognize the ruling.

Court rules to keep journalist Mehmet Şah Oruç in pre-trial detention

Journalist Mehmet Şah Oruç appeared before the Bitlis 2nd High Criminal Court on 14 September 2023 for the first hearing of his trial on the charge of "membership in a terorrist organization” over his reporting and social media posts.

Oruç and his lawyer addressed the court from the Diyarbakır No. 1 High Security Prison via the judicial videoconferencing network SEGBİS.

In his defense statement Oruç said: “Our reports are public and anyone can read them. The people with whom I had phone conversations, as reflected in the HTS recordings, are colleagues from the same news agency. What sort of crime could this constitute? How can my conversation with the managing editor be a crime?”

The prosecution requested the continuation of Oruç’s imprisonment based on the nature of the crime.

After taking a recess following the defense statements, the court issued an interim ruling, ordering the continuation of Oruç's pre-trial detention and the completion of requested files, social security records and previous court files against Oruç. The court adjourned the case until 31 October 2023.

Case against Kürşat Yılmaz and Görkem Kınacı adjourned until January

The second hearing in the trial of Evrensel newspaper Concessionaire Kürşat Yılmaz and Responsible Managing Editor Görkem Kınacı on charges of “defamation” and “insult” filed upon a complaint by Turkuvaz Media Group Vice President of the Board Serhat Albayrak was held at the İstanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance on 12 September 2023.

Yılmaz, Kınacı and lawyers representing the parties attended the hearing, monitored by P24.

Addressing the court for his defense statement, Kınacı denied the accusations: “The publication of the written content subject to the charge carried out to inform the public as part of journalistic activities. What should be prosecuted is not our journalistic activity, but the crimes that are the subject of these allegations.”

In his defense statement, Yılmaz said he did not intervene in news content as the publisher of the newspaper. Yılmaz said: “The articles listed in the indictment are simply reporting on an official complaint against the complainant. These stories were produced to inform the public as part of journalistic activities” and requested his acquittal.

Kınacı and Yılmaz’s lawyer Devrim Avcı said: “The news content subject to the indictment covered a criminal complaint by opposition parties. The name of the complainant appeared in the news item because it appeared in the criminal complaint. Elements of the crimes of ‘defamation’ and ‘insult’ have not formed.”

Complainant Serhat Albayrak’s lawyer Kübra Alemdar, who requested to join the case as co-plaintiff, said: “There is no complaint or investigation filed with judicial authorities regarding my client. My client was defamed based on the content of social media accounts operated by unknown people.” The journalists' lawyer requested a continuance to inform the court of the investigation number regarding the criminal complaint.

The court accepted the request by complainant Albayrak to join the case and Avcı's request for additional time and adjourned the case until 16 January 2024.

Yılmaz and Kınacı are on trial for two news reports titled “Borsadaki rüşvet ağı Saray’a kadar uzandı” (Web of bribery on the stock market leads to the Palace), published on 29 August 2022, and “Saraya dayanan Peker ifşaları ‘cesur savcı’ ile temizlenemez” (A ‘brave prosecutor’ cannot clean up Peker’s disclosures reaching the Palace), published on 31 August 2022.

Prosecution requests sentencing for Rabia Çetin

The second hearing in the trial of journalist Rabia Çetin on the charges of “marking officials assigned in the fight against terrorism as targets” and “insulting a public official due to his/her duty” was held at the İstanbul 23rd High Criminal Court on 13 September 2023.

Çetin and her lawyer Merve Kurhan attended the hearing, montiored by P24.

In her defense statement, Çetin rejected the accusations and said that the social media post subject to the charges was shared to inform the public.

Presenting their final opinion, the prosecutor requested that the court sentence Çetin for “marking officials assigned in the fight against terrorism as targets” and acquit the journalist of “insulting a public official.”

Çetin’s lawyer requested a continuance to present their statement in response to the prosecutor's final opinion. The court accepted the request and adjourned the trial until 6 November 2023.

Çetin is on trial for retweeting a post that read, “The prosecutor in charge of the investigation, who has not carried out an effective investigation to solve the attack and the murder, who ensured evidence was destroyed and who prevented the real perpetrators other than the hitman from being revealed has filed a case against the grieving father of #DenizPoyraz on charges of propaganda” shared by a Twitter account named “Deniz Poyraz davası” (The Deniz Poyraz Case).

Özgür Gündem trial adjourned until January 2024

The 28th hearing in the trial of the now-defunct Özgür Gündem newspaper’s former editors Reyhan Çapan and Hüseyin Aykol and contributors Hasan Başak and Kemal Yakut on charges of “terrorism propaganda” and “praising a crime and a criminal offender,” over articles on self-administration published in the newspaper in March 2016, was held at the İstanbul 13th High Criminal Court on 14 September 2023.

Aykol and Çapan’s lawyer Özcan Kılıç attended the hearing, monitored by P24.

Lawyer Kılıç said that the case file for the trial of his client Hüseyin Aykol at the İstanbul 14th High Criminal Court had been conveyed to the court following the annulment of the ruling by the Supreme Court of Appeals and requested Aykol’s file to be merged.

The court ruled to decide on the request for the merger in between hearings and adjourned the trial until 11 January 2024.

Özgür Gündem trial against Aykol, Kaya, Kızılkaya and Dicle adjourned

The 25th hearing in the trial of the now-defunct Özgür Gündem newspaper's former Chief Editors Hüseyin Aykol and Zana Kaya, former Managing Editor İnan Kızılkaya and Kurdish politician Hatip Dicle on charges of “denigrating the Turkish nation, the state of the Republic of Turkey, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, the government of the Republic of Turkey and the judicial organs of the state” and “denigrating the military or security organization of the state” over articles published in the Özgür Gündem newspaper in 2016 was held at the İstanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance on 14 September 2023.

The defendants’ lawyer Özcan Kılıç attended the hearing, monitored by P24.

Kılıç said they would not make a statement at this stage. The court ruled to wait for the execution of the arrest warrant issued for Hatip Dicle and adjourned the case until 4 January 2024.

Prosecution requests sentencing for Erdem Avşar

The second hearing in the trial of Yeniçağ newspaper Managing Editor Erdem Avşar on charges of “defamation” and “insult,” filed upon a complaint by Turkuvaz Media Group Vice President of the Board Serhat Albayrak, was held at the İstanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance on 14 September 2023.

Erdem Avşar and lawyers representing the parties attended the hearing, monitored by P24.

Presenting their final opinion, the prosecutor requested sentencing for Avşar for “insult” and “defamation.”

Albayrak’s lawyers stated they agreed with the opinion and requested sentencing for Avşar.

Avşar’s lawyer İzzet Köz requested additional time to prepare a statement in response to the final opinion. The court accepted the request and adjourned the trial until 23 January 2024.

Avşar is on trial for an article titled “27., 28., 29. ve 30. tweetlerin içindeki sır belli oldu: Sedat Peker, Ali Fuat Taşkesenlioğlu’nun Arkasındaki İsmi Açıkladı” (The secret in tweets 27, 28, 29 and 30 revealed: Sedat Peker Discloses the Person Behind Ali Fuat Taşkesenlioğlu), published on the online edition of Yeniçağ newspaper on 27 August 2022.

Writer and poet Gökhan Yavuzel’s trial adjourned until March 2024

The trial of writer and poet Gökhan Yavuzel on the charge of “insulting the president” over his social media posts resumed at the Şanlıurfa 4th Criminal Court of First Instance on 12 September 2023.

The court granted the prosecutor time to prepare their final opinion and adjourned the case until 7 March 2024.

Journalist and writer Ercan Aktaş adjourned until March 2024

The 11 September 2023 hearing in the trial of journalist and writer Ercan Aktaş on charges of “terrorism propaganda” over his social media posts was held at the İstanbul 22nd High Criminal Court.

The court ruled to await the execution of the order for the detention of Aktaş and adjourned the trial until 11 March 2024.

Musician Ferhat Tunç’s trial for “insulting the president” adjourned until May 2024

The 15th hearing in trial of musician Ferhat Tunç on charges of “insulting the president” over his social media posts was held at the Büyükçekmece 14th Criminal Court of First Instance on 2 September 2023.

Tunç’s lawyer attended the hearing, while Tunç did not attend.

The court ruled to await the execution of the order for the detention of Tunç, who lives abroad. The trial was adjourned until 7 May 2024.

The trial of 31 people, including journalist Sonya Bayık adjourned until December 2023

The ninth hearing in a trial in which journalist Sonya Bayık and 30 activists are charged with “violating the Law No. 2911 on Meetings and Demonstrations” was held at the Batman 1st Criminal Court of First Instance on 12 September 2023. Bayık was detained while covering a press statement for the protection of the historical and cultural heritage in the Hasankeyf district in Batman, along with the activists.

The court ruled to await the execution of the arrest warrants issed for two defendants and adjourned the case until 12 December 2023.

At least 45 journalists and media workers in prison

As of 15 September 2023, there are at least 45 journalists and media workers in prison in Turkey, either in pre-trial detention or serving a sentence.

The full list can be accessed here.