Furkan Karabay imprisoned pending trial; Mehmet Yetim acquitted of “spreading false information;” Selçuk Bayraktar sues BirGün for TL 2 million in damages; access to Ekşi Sözlük blocked again

 

Gerçek Gündem editor Furkan Karabay imprisoned pending trial

Gerçek Gündem news site editor Furkan Karabay was taken into custody in Istanbul on 28 December 2023  on suspicion of “marking those assigned with the fight against terrorism as targets” and “defamation” in connection with a recent report he published. Karabay was taken to the Counter-Terrorism Branch at the Istanbul Police Department. The allegations stemmed from a public prosecutor being named in the court minutes Karabay covered in his report.

Karabay's lawyer Enes Ermaner said that Karabay was “arbitrarily being denied meeting his lawyer” on his social media account.

During his questioning by the police, Karabay was asked about his report, which concerned a court case.

Karabay was brought to the Istanbul Courthouse on 29 December 2023, where he was subsequently transferred to the 7th Criminal Judgeship of Peace with a request for his imprisonment pending trial after giving his statement to the public prosecutor.

The judgeship ruled for Karabay to be placed in pre-trial detention. Karabay was sent to the Marmara (formerly Silivri) Prison. 

Journalist Mehmet Yetim acquitted of “spreading misleading information”

The first hearing in the trial of journalist Mehmet Yetim on the charge of “spreading misleading information” was held at the Şanlıurfa 1st Criminal Court of First Instance on 27 December 2023. The court ruled to acquit journalist Yetim.

Case filed against journalist Evrim Kepenek on charge of “spreading false information”

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office issued an indictment against bianet news website editor Evrim Kepenek on the charge of “spreading false information” over her social media posts concerning the Maraş earthquakes of 6 February 2023.

The Istanbul 13th Criminal Court of First Instance has admitted the indictment and set the date of the first hearing as 23 September 2024.

Kepenek’s post regarding allegations that the gendarmerie had confiscated aid sent to the Pazarcık district of Kahramanmaraş after the earthquakes on 6 February 2023 was given as the grounds for the case.

Case filed against BirGün reporter Asena Tunca for “violating the Law on Meetings and Demonstrations”

BirGün reporter Asena Tunca is charged with “violating the Law on Meetings and Demonstrations” in a new case file. Tunca had been detained along with 76 members of the SOL (Left) Party, as she covered their protest against the government and the Turkish Red Crescent following the Kahramanmaraş earthquakes of 6 February 2023.

Members of SOL Party were detained outside the party’s Kadıköy District Office in Istanbul on 1 March 2023 by the police on the grounds that the district governor’s office had banned their demonstration. Tunca was detained while he was covering the demonstration.

The indictment was admitted by Istanbul's Anadolu 14th Criminal Court of First Instance, and the date of the first hearing was set as 19 April 2024.

Journalist Nimet Ölmez charged with “insulting a public official” in new indictment

Journalist Nimet Ölmez is charged with “insulting a public official” in a new indictment, where the accusation stems from a social media post she shared based on a report by journalist Timur Soykan in a news show on Halk TV.

Soykan had reported that three defendants arrested for sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl in Hakkari’s Şemdinli district in 2016 and sentenced to 42 years in prison for “sexual abuse” and “deprivation of liberty” had been released after being detained for eight months and that AKP Hakkari Provincial Chair Zeydin Kaya had one time represented the three accused as their lawyer.

Following Soykan’s report, journalist Nimet Ölmez shared a social media post in which she commented about Kaya and also posted the video of Soykan’s report. Shortly after sharing this post, Ölmez was summoned to give her statement by the Hakkari Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office on the allegation of “insulting a public official.” 

The Prosecutor’s Office subsequently issued an indictment against the journalist on the charge of “insulting a public official.” The indictment was recently accepted by the Hakkari 1st Criminal Court of First Instance.

For detailed information, see our report.

Journalist Can Ataklı under investigation over social media posts

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation against journalist Can Ataklı on the allegation of “inciting the people to hatred and enmity.”

The indictment stated that the expressions used by Ataklı on his social media posts regarding soldiers killed in the Kurdish region of Iraq in operations carried out by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) were “negative and constituted aggression.”

Access to Ekşi Sözlük blocked again

Access to the online forum Ekşi Sözlük has been blocked for a second time in 10 days. Access to the domain name eksisozluk1923.com was blocked by order of the Ankara 6th Criminal Judgeship of Peace on grounds of “national security and the protection of the public order.”

The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office had carried out an ex officio investigation into some posts on Ekşi Sözlük regarding the soldiers killed in the “Pençe-Kilit” military operation.

The Ekşi Sözlük management has announced the new address for the platform as eksisozluk111.com.

RTÜK fines 5 TV channels

At its 28 December 2023 meeting, the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) issued three administrative fines amounting to 3 percent of the channel’s ad revenues on Fox TV on grounds that the channel was not “impartial” in its evaluation of the death of delivery person Yunus Emre Göçer, who was hit by a car being driven by the son of the Somali president; and former Ankaragücü FC president Faruk Koca assaulting referee Halil Umut Meler.

RTÜK imposed three administrative fines amounting to 3 percent of the channel’s ad revenues on Halk TV for presenting “terrorist actions, perpetrators and victims of terrorism in a way amenable to serving the purposes of terrorism” and also fined Halk TV 3 percent of the channel’s ad revenues for commentary on LGBTI+ which “violated national and spiritual values.”

RTÜK imposed three administrative fines amounting to 3 percent of the channel’s ad revenues on the SZC television channel for violation of “impartiality” in reporting on some Turkish Statistics Institution (TÜİK) employees saying they received bonuses and promotions in exchange for depicting unemployment figures as being lower than they were.

RTÜK imposed three administrative fines amounting to 3 percent of the channel’s ad revenues on KRT for “belittling” over Zafer Arapkirli criticizing Minister for Work Vedat Işıkhan for saying “there is no extreme poverty” and Minister for Health Koca for a hand gesture he used while arguing that doctors leaving for abroad were doing it for the “money”.

RTÜK also imposed three administrative fines amounting to 3 percent of the channel’s ad revenues for “secret trade relations” on TGRT, where a Starbucks cup was visible during the news program.

RTÜK imposes 76 penalties in 2023 and increases fines by 90 percent

The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) imposed a total of 76 penalties on news networks, national broadcasters in the general broadcasting category and digital platforms in 2023.

A total of 56 penalties were imposed against news networks and national broadcasters in the general broadcasting category and most sanctions were imposed for “violating the principle of impartiality.” 14 penalties were issued for violation of the principle of impartiality and 11 penalties were issued for violation of national and spiritual values and the protection of general morality.

Tele 1 was issued 17 penalties; Halk TV 15 and Fox TV five penalties. Also in 2023, Flash Haber was issued six penalties; KRT four; Show TV three; Habertürk and Beyaz TV two each and Star TV and TV 5 one each.

The total value of fines issued by RTÜK has risen by 90 percent compared to the previous year. In 2023, RTÜK issued fines amounting to approximately 45 million TL.

By law, RTÜK sets fines in proportion to advertising income and therefore fined Fox TV the most, at a total of 25.1 million TL. Halk TV paid 2.8 million TL in fines and Tele 1 1.2 million TL. Tele 1 was issued the most administrative fines in 2023, with 14 instances. Halk TV was issued 12 administrative fines; Fox TV five and Flash Haber four.

In 2023, Tele 1 faced the strictest penqlties, with RTÜK stopping the channel from broadcasting for a total of seven days.

Most bans on broadcasting programs were issued to Halk TV. In three separate decisions for sanctions, three different programs on Halk TV were banned from airing for a total of 15 times.

Meanwhile, RTÜK’s applications have resulted in the blocking of access to “voaturkce.com” and “dwturkce.com.”

Selçuk Bayraktar sues BirGün for TL 2 million in damages

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s son-in-law Selçuk Bayraktar and his company Baykar Makina have sued the BirGün newspaper and reporter İsmail Arı for damages worth TL 2 million.

In a petition to the Istanbul Trade Court of First Instance, Bayraktar claimed that Arı's report “Yandaşlar ne istiyorsa veriyorlar” (They give whatever their supporters want) that was published in the newspaper's 17 September 2023 edition had harmed his “personality rights” and he was “insulted.”

Journalist Sibel Hürtaş under investigation for calling police officers who assaulted her “torturers”

Journalist Sibel Hürtaş, who was detained after being assaulted while reporting on the protest by presidents of bar associations against the “multiple bar system” outside parliament and was sentenced to pay an administrative fine of TL 10.000 is now facing an investigation for calling police officers “torturers” during her defense statement at a hearing.

While the criminal complaint filed by Hürtaş against the police officers who had maltreated her was dismissed with a decision not to prosecute, Hürtaş was charged with “resisting to obstruct fulfillment of duty” upon the complaint filed by the police officers. At the final hearing in that trial held at the Ankara 37th Criminal Court of First Instance on 13 December 2023, Hürtaş was sentenced to 8 months and 10 days of imprisonment and her imprisonment sentence was converted to an administrative fine of TL 10,000.

The police officers have once more filed a complaint against Hürtaş due to her defense statement. One of the police officers has filed a complaint with the prosecutor’s office over Hürtaş calling the police officers who assaulted her “torturers” during the hearing.

Taking up the complaint, the Ankara Chief Prosecutor’s Office has launched an investigation against Hürtaş. Hürtaş gave a statement at the police station as part of the investigation.

Journalist Berkcan Zengin summoned to give statement

Freelance photo reporter Berkcan Zengin was summoned as “suspect” to give statement at the İzmir Security Directorate after one of the two people, who had quarreled under his social media post, filed a complaint against the other.

Zengin had covered the press statement made by Dokuz Eylül University students in Alsancak, İzmir on 17 concerning the twin earthquakes of 6 February. The journalist had then shared the photos of the statement on his social media post. Under the post, two people unknown to Zengin argued with each other, which ended up with one of them filing a complaint against the other.

Summoned to give his defense statement, Zengin said that he knew neither of them and he did not insult or threaten anybody.

Investigation launched into T24’s coverage of Sinan Ateş's murder

Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has launched an investigation into a report titled “Sinan Ateş cinayeti dosyasındaki bilirkişi raporuna T24 ulaştı: Ateş’in adresini Ülkü Ocakları Başkanı istemiş!" (T24 has gotten its hands on expert opinion on Sinan Ateş murder: Ateş’s residency address was requested by former Grey Wolves President) published on T24 news site.

The prosecutor’s office has claimed that the report violated “confidentiality of an investigation” and “may harm the presumption of innocence.”

TGRT Haber news presenter fired over “Starbucks cup”

Pro-government media organization TGRT Haber has terminated the employment of news presenter Meltem Günay and the director of the program over the presenter having a Starbucks cup on her desk while on air. The channel has announced that it had parted ways with Meltem Günay and the director.

In its statement, TGRT Haber TV said that it was strictly forbidden for any presenter to covertly advertise for any firm and that the “Employment of the news presenter and the director was rightfully terminated for breach of this principle.”

Mehmet Göcekli’s case adjourned until April 2024

The fifth hearing in the trial of Demokrat Haber Editor-in-Chief and Licensed Publisher Mehmet Göcekli on the charge of “terrorism propaganda” was held at the İstanbul 27th High Criminal Court on 26 December 2023.

P24 monitored the hearing, attended by Göcekli’s lawyer Yelda Koçak Urfa.

Urfa said that they had tried but not succeeded in identifying Göcekli’s address through the German population database system and requested the acquittal of her client.

The court ruled to await the execution of the order for Göcekli’s detention and adjourned the trial until 16 April 2024.

The indictment lists the posts on Göcekli’s personal social media accounts between 2011-2016 which contain news articles published on Demokrat Haber and articles posted on Demokrat Haber’s Facebook account between 2015-2018 as evidence of the charge.

Journalist Levent Gültekin’s trial for “insulting the president” begins

The trial of journalist Levent Gültekin on the charge of “insulting the president” over his statements on a TV program began at the Bakırköy 44th Criminal Court of First Instance on 26 December 2023.

No parties attended the hearing.

The prosecutor requested the missing elements in the case file to be completed. The plaintiff party’s lawyer requested to be included in the case as co-plaintiff.

The court ruled to assess the request to join the case as co-plaintiff after Gültekin had provided a defense statement and adjourned the trial until 19 March 2024.

At least 37 journalists and media workers in prison

Following the imprisonment of journalist Furkan Karabay, as of 29 December 2023, there are at least 37 journalists and media workers in prison in Turkey, either in pre-trial detention or serving a sentence.

The full list can be accessed here.