Execution of the penalty issued by RTÜK to Açık Radyo suspended; Sadık Topaloğlu detained; Hayko Bağdat sentenced to imprisonment; Öznur Değer acquitted; Nationalist Hearths Deputy President Kılıç threatens journalists

 

Execution of the penalty issued by RTÜK to Açık Radyo suspended

Açık Radyo radio station has announced that a court had ordered the suspension of the execution to the revocation of the radio’s broadcasting license, which was issued by the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK).

Açık Radyo’s license was revoked by RTÜK on the grounds that it had not abided by the five-day suspension of broadcast penalty issued over “inciting the people to hatred and enmity.” The radio station has announced that the administrative court overseeing the case filed against the broadcast suspension and fine had suspended the execution of the penalty until it issues a decision.

In its decision on 22 May 2024, RTÜK issued an administrative fine to Açık Radyo, as well as the suspension of the broadcast of the Açık Gazete program for five days, from 10 June through 14 June 2024. In its most recent decision, the board stated that while Açık Radyo had received the notice for broadcast suspension on 31 May 2024, it had continued its broadcasts and thereby violated article 32 of the Law 6112. On 3 July 2024, RTÜK revoked Açık Radyo’s broadcast license for not abiding by the broadcast suspension penalty.

Journalist Sadık Topaloğlu detained

Journalist Sadık Topaloğlu was detained on 10 July. It was reported that Topaloğlu was detained along with a friend, who was with him at the time.

The police searched the residence of Topaloğlu, who was detained outside. Following the house search, Topaloğlu and Savaş were taken to the İstanbul Provincial Directorate of Security in Fatih.

Topaloğlu, who met with his lawyer, stated that he was in good condition. The reason for the investigation remains unknown.

 

Nationalist Hearths Deputy President Kılıç threatens journalists

Ülkü Ocakları (Nationalist Hearths) Deputy President Burak Kılıç has threatened journalists İsmail Saymaz, Erk Acarer, Barış Terkoğlu, Alican Uludağ and Timur Soykan, who are covering the Sinan Ateş murder case in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter).

Posting a tweet with reference to “lead bullets,” Kılıç targeted journalists İsmail Saymaz, Erk Acarer, Barış Terkoğlu, Alican Uludağ and Timur Soykan.

Adding the photos of journalists to his post, Kılıç threatened journalists, writing “Bizler AB ve ABD fonlarının doldurduğu dolma kalemleri değiliz, bizler ‘kurşun’ kalemleriz. ‘Kurşun’ kalemlerin de bir gün galip geleceğini mutlaka göreceksiniz!” (“We are not fountain pens drawing on EU and US funds, we are ‘lead’ pencils. ‘Lead’ pencils will triumph, as you’ll one day find out.”)

Upon reactions, Kılıç later deleted his tweet.

 

Documentary filmmaker Sibel Tekin to be paid TL 25,000 in damages

Documentary filmmaker Sibel Tekin, who was imprisoned pending trial for 45 days on suspicion of “membership in a terrorist organization” (TPC 314) over some footage she shot for her documentary “Karanlıkta Başlayan Hayat” is to be paid 25,000 TL in damages.

Tekin’s lawyers Mehtap Sakinci and Hümeyra Taşkıran had applied to the Ankara Chief Prosecutor’s Office for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages over “wrongful detention” and “wrongful imprisonment” on 2 April 2024, after Tekin was acquitted by the Ankara 26th High Criminal Court of the charge which led to her being imprisoned for 45 days.

The lawyers had requested 250,000 TL in non-pecuniary damages and 10,000 TL in pecuniary damages in their application.

The Ankara 25th High Criminal Court issued its ruling for damages at the first hearing. The court dismissed the claim for pecuniary damages, as the legal elements had not formed.

However, the court ruled for Tekin to be paid 25,000 TL in non-pecuniary damages for the period she spent in detention and remand between 16 December 2022, when she was detained, and the period of wrongful imprisonment began and 30 January 2023.

It was reported that Tekin’s lawyers would file an appeal against the dismissal of the request for material damages and the partial acceptance of the request for non-pecuniary damages.

Sibel Tekin was detained in a raid on her home on 16 December 2022, after a report was received about her shooting footage in Tuzluçayır, Ankara for work on a documentary film the previous day. Tekin was placed in pre-trial detention after appearing before the court on 17 December 2022 and was released after the first hearing in her trial held on 30 January 2023. Ekin was acquitted of the charge, on the grounds that the legal elements had not formed, at the 5 March 2023 hearing in the trial held at the Ankara 26th High Criminal Court.

Access blocked to Özgür Yurttaş Haber’s X account

An order for the access block to Özgür Yurttaş Haber’s X account has been issued.

The access block order was issued by the Gümüşhane Criminal Court of Peace.

Özgür Yurttaş Haber Editor-in-Chief Mehmet Murat Yıldırım, who said that the order was intended to limit the freedom of the press added, “In our reporting, we simply try to convey the facts. They will not silence us with such restrictions.”

 

 

Journalist Gönül Yılman Saygan released after being detained at airport

Journalist Gönül Yılman Saygan, who was detained at İzmir Adnan Menderes Airport on 9 July 2024 over a wanted notice was released the same day after providing a statement to the prosecutor’s office.

Saygan said she had not been subjected to maltreatment and spoke as follows: “I am at the police station, waiting for the lunch break to be over. Then it will be the courthouse and then we will see. Her older brother picked up my daughter. I will not forget the fear in her eyes for as long as I live. I do not care about being detained at the police station. It is my daughter being scared that gets me. I would have gone in to provide a statement. I always have, when called to. But why the detention? I had to get into a police car as my daughter watched. But anyway.”

Saygan was first taken to a police station and then transferred to the İzmir Courthouse in Bayraklı. She was released after providing a statement to the prosecutor’s office.

Regarding the reason for her detention, Saygan posted, “I was detained because of my response to someone who threatened me, insulted me and swore at me.”

Journalist Hayko Bağdat handed jail term for “insulting the president”

The 12th hearing in the trial of journalist Hayko Bağdat on charges of “insulting the president,” “insulting a public official” and “inciting the people to hatred and enmity” was held at the İstanbul 50th Criminal Court of First Instance on 10 July 2024. The charges against Bağdat were brought over his articles titled “Erdoğan hakkında son yazım,” (“My last article on Erdoğan”) which was published on the ozguruz.org website on 14 April 2017 and various social media posts he shared over the years.

 

Lawyers for the parties were present at the hearing, which P24 monitored.

 

The court ruled to acquit Bağdat of “inciting the people to hatred and enmity” and “insulting a public official” as the legal elements of the crime had not formed. The court found that the crime of “insulting the president” had been established for the two posts shared by Bağdat in 2019 and sentenced the journalist to 1 year 2 months and 17 days of imprisonment. The sentence was suspended.

 

Click here for a detailed report.

 

Journalist Hakkı Boltan’s trial adjourned until January 2025

The fifth hearing in the trial of DİSK Basın-İş labor union Diyarbakır regional representative and Yeni Yaşam newspaper reporter Hakkı Boltan on charges of “insulting the president” and “insulting a public official” was held at the Diyarbakır 12th Criminal Court of First Instance on 11 July 2024.

Due to the presiding judge being on leave, another judge acted as the presiding judge temporarily.

The prosecutor for the hearing, who had requested time to draft the final opinion on the case at the previous hearing, did not present their final opinion.

The court ruled to grant the prosecutor time to prepare their final opinion on the case.

The trial was adjourned until 28 January 2025.

Action for damages against Barış Pehlivan adjourned until November

The fourth hearing in the action for damages worth TL 10,000 filed against journalist Barış Pehlivan by Deputy Minister of National Defense Alpaslan Kavaklıoğlu was held at the Ankara 23rd Civil Court of First Instance on 11 July 2024.

The trial was adjourned until 26 November 2024.

Can Dündar’s trial adjourned until October

The ninth hearing in the trial of journalist Can Dündar on the charge of “obtaining and disseminating information that should remain secret for the security of the state or its internal and external political interests” was held at the İstanbul 14th High Criminal Court on 11 July 2024.

Lawyers for the parties presented excuses not to attend the hearing. The hearing was held summarily, and the court ruled to await the execution of the order for Dündar’s detention and the request for his extradition. The trial was adjourned until 17 October 2024.

Singer Ferhat Tunç’s trial adjourned until September

The 15th hearing in the trial of singer Ferhat Tunç on the charge of “insulting a public official” was held at the Büyükçekmece 16th Criminal Court of First Instance on 10 July 2024.

No parties attended the hearing.

The court ruled to await the execution of the order for Tunç’s detention and adjourned the trial until 13 September 2024.

Case against Evrensel newspaper contributor İhsan Çaralan dropped in retrial

The third hearing in the retrial of Evrensel newspaper contributor İhsan Çaralan on the charge of “terrorism propaganda” over his participation in the “Editor–in-chief on Watch” campaign held in solidarity with the Özgür Gündem newspaper, which was shut down by statutory decree (KHK), was held at the İstanbul 14th High Criminal Court on 9 July 2024.

 

İhsan Çaralan and his lawyer Devrim Avcı were present at the hearing, which P24 monitored.

 

The court ruled to dismiss the case, as the five-year period of probation following the deferment of the sentence in the initial trial had expired.

 

Click here for a detailed report.

 

Prosecutor delivers opinion at the first hearing and requests sentencing for Tolga Şardan

The first hearing in the trial of T24 contributor Tolga Şardan on charges of “publicly disseminating misleading information” and “publicly denigrating the judicial organs of the state” over his reporting on claims of “corruption in the judiciary” was held at the İstanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance on 9 July 2024.

 

Şardan and his lawyers were present at the hearing, which P24 monitored.

 

Presenting his defense statement following identification, Şardan rejected both charges. He said the following: “The article subject to the charges does not contain false information. According to the provision on ‘spreading false information,’ the accused should believe that the news item is false and willfully publish it. No journalist would put their name under a news item containing false information. I also have never done such a thing. The main elements in the news item subject to the charges are the Presidency and the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) Presidency. The order for my detention was issued days after the article was published and neither the Presidency nor the MİT Presidency have filed a complaint or intervened in the case. That the main elements in the news item have not issued a statement indicates the truth of the reporting. I also reject the charge of ‘denigrating the judicial organs of the state’ against me. I am a journalist who monitors the state bureaucracy closely and knows the state hierarchy well. I believe the article does not constitute this crime. I request my acquittal.”

 

Şardan’s lawyers stated that neither the material elements nor criminal intent had formed for either charge, and requested the acquittal of their client.

 

Presenting their final opinion on the case, the prosecutor requested sentencing for Şardan for the crimes of “spreading false information” and “denigrating the judicial organs of the state."

 

Şardan and his lawyers requested time to set up a counter-statement against the prosecutor’s opinion.

The court accepted the request and adjourned the trial until 17 December 2024.

 

JinNews reporter Öznur Değer acquitted

The 12th hearing in the 24 people including JinNews reporter Öznur Değer, who were detained during the “Geçinemiyoruz” demonstrations in Ankara, on charges of “violating the Law 2911 on Meetings and Demonstrations” and “resisting to prevent fulfillment of duty” was held at the Ankara 18th Criminal Court of First Instance on 8 July 2024.

 

While the defendants did not attend the hearing, some defense lawyers were present.

The prosecutor repeated their final opinion on the case presented at the previous hearing, which requests Değer’s acquittal and sentencing for some other defendants.

Değer’s lawyer Çiğdem Kozan said, “Although my client has been treated as a demonstrator, she was at the scene of the incident as a reporter. The court should rule for acquittal. My client should also be acquitted of the charge of resisting to prevent fulfillment of duty unless an action is impugned.

Twelve defendants, including Değer, were acquitted at the end of the hearing. Five defendants were sentenced to 6 months of imprisonment each for the crime of “resisting” as defined in the Law on Meetings and Demonstrations. Seven people were sentenced to five months of imprisonment each for the same crime, and the sentence was deferred for seven defendants.

At least 26 journalist and media workers in prison

According to data obtained by Expression Interrupted, following the release of Aytekin Gezici, as of 12 July 2024, there are at least 26 journalists and media workers in prison in Turkey, either in pre-trial detention or serving a sentence.

The full list can be accessed here.