Access blocked to the VOA Turkish upon RTÜK’s request; 2 cases filed against Furkan Karabay; new indictment against journalist Ömer Çelik over news over his detention; decision not to prosecute over threats against a journalist

Access to VOA Turkish blocked upon RTÜK’s application

Access to the news website Voice of America (VOA) Turkish has been blocked by a ruling of the Ankara 9th Criminal Court of Peace on 28 August 2023. The court ruling was issued upon a request to that effect by the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) on the grounds that VOA Turkish had not filed an application to obtain a broadcasting license. 

In a notice issued on Monday, 25 August, RTÜK, which had blocked access to the previous VOA domain “amerikaninsesi.com” last year, had given the broadcaster 72 hours to apply for a broadcasting licence. 

2 cases filed against journalist Furkan Karabay

A court case has been filed against Gerçek Gündem news website reporter Furkan Karabay on charges of “insulting a public official” over his social media posts on how the international travel ban imposed on businessperson Sezgin Baran Korkmaz was lifted. The prosecutor’s office claimed that Karabay had insulted the Deputy Minister of Justice Hasan Yılmaz and Constitutional Court Judge İrfan Fidan by reminding readers that these individuals had undersigned the decision to lift the ban on Korkmaz traveling abroad.

The Ankara 16th Criminal Court of First Instance admitted the indictment. Karabay is to appear before the court on 17 January 2024.

Upon the complaint of the Constitutional Court Judge İrfan Fidan, another court case on charges of “marking officials involved in the fight against terrorism as targets” filed against Karabay and Faruk Eren, the managing editor of the website.

The indictment, prepared as part of the investigation carried out by the Special Investigations Office of the Ankara Chief Prosecutor’s Office lists Karabay’s reporting and social media posts on Fidan as “evidence of the crime.” 

In their defense statement included in the indictment, the journalists stated that their “posts did not constitute insult, defamation or a case of marking people as targets,” that “content was based on facts and not assumptions,” that “the posts served the public interest” and “came under the freedom of expression” and rejected the charges. 

The Ankara 22nd High Criminal Court, which has accepted the indictment, is expected to set a date for the first hearing. 

Celalettin Can, on trial in the Özgür Gündem Solidarity Case, placed in prison

Celalettin Can, spokesperson for the 78s Initiative who acted as editor-in-chief of the Özgür Gündem newspaper for one day in solidarity with the newspaper during the period when it was shut down was placed in prison on 28 August 2023.

Celalettin Can was notified of the finalized conviction ruling carrying a 15 months of imprisonment sentence on 20 August 2023. Can shared information about the events and applied to the İstanbul Chief Prosecutor’s Office’s Office for Writs and Execution at the Çağlayan Courthouse on 28 August and turned himself in. Can applied for release on probation on the same day.

Can shared the information that after the initial application he would be processed first at Metris Prison and then at Silivri Prison and that he would be imprisoned at Silivri Prison for three quarters of his sentence of 15 months (11 months and 25 days) unless his application for probation was accepted.

13 people, including Celalettin Can, İhsan Çaralan, Ertuğrul Mavioğlu, Hüseyin Aykol, Fehim Işık, Celal Başlangıç, Öncü Akgül and Faruk Eren, who had participated in the solidarity campaign with the now-defunct Özgür Gündem newspaper, were sentenced in April 2019 on charges of “terrorism propaganda.” Can had been sentenced to 15 months of imprisonment.

New indictment prepared against journalist Ömer Çelik over reports over his detention

A new indictment has been drafted against Ömer Çelik, one of the 16 journalists detained and imprisoned pending trial in Diyarbakır on 8 June 2022. The new indictment brings the charge of “membership in a terrorist organization” based on four news items that appeared in Fırat News Agency (ANF) and the Mezopotamya Agency about his detention.

The indictment, drafted by the İdil Chief Prosecutor’s Office in Diyarbakır, was filed with the Diyarbakır Chief Prosecutor’s Office on grounds of non-competence. The Diyarbakır Chief Prosecutor’s Office, which accepted the indictment, submitted the indictment to the Diyarbakır 4th High Criminal Court, which currently oversees the trial of Çelik and 17 other journalists detained in June 22, and requested that the file be merged with this file. The court accepted the request.

The new indictement claimed that Çelik was "supported by the PKK terrorist organization" through news reports published by "websites affiliated with the PKK" and added that these reports also aimed to "discredit the judicial process conducted" against Çelik. 

Journalist Gökhan Özbek detained over social media posts

Gökhan Özbek, owner of the social media news platform “23 Derece,” was detained over his social media posts after the police searched his home on 28 August 2023. Özbek shared the incident on social media and said that there was an arrest warrant issued on him. 

Özbek was released by a decision of the Ankara 8th Criminal Court of Peace on 29 August. As per the court decision, no judicial control measures will apply to Özbek. 

Decision not to prosecute over threats against journalist

The Ankara Chief Prosecutor’s Office has decided not to prosecute the persons who threatened journalist Hale Gönültaş by phone and on social media to get her to remove one of the news report she had prepared. Despite Gönültaş presenting the threatening messages she received and providing documents that she had been threatened over the phone, the prosecutor’s office, which only investigated one person, decided not to prosecute.

Gönültaş had written a story on the Tevhid group which is affiliated with Halis Bayuncuk, code name “Ebu Hanzala,” who was recently released from prison. The piece was published on the Kısa Dalga website. In the news item titled “Video of ISIS member women with knife recorded at people’s park” (“IŞİD’li kadının bıçaklı videosu millet bahçesinde çekildi”,) included images of a woman detained during a police raid in İstanbul issuing threats against people opposing sharia law with a knife in her hand at the İstanbul Başakşehir People’s Park. 

Upon her reporting, Gönültaş was called on her phone by persons who claimed she had “unduly influenced the Halis Bayuncuk case” and told her there would be consequences if she did not remove her news item. Gönültaş was simultaneously threatened by users of several social media accounts. Gönültaş made the threats public and filed an official complaint with the prosecutor’s office. 

It has recently emerged that the prosecutor’s office had finalized Gönültaş’s complaint dated 3 May 2023 in just over a month, on 13 June 2023, with a decision not to prosecute. 

Journalist Mehmet Karakeçili assaulted and threatened over his reporting about the municipality

Journalist Mehmet Karakeçili who attended a farewell dinner for District Governor Önder Çengel in Şanlıurfa’s Viranşehir District was assaulted by Viranşehir Mayor Salih Ekinci’s bodyguard. Passersby intervened and called the police upon witnessing the assault. 

Journalist Karakeçili, who suffered a broken nose and cut eyebrow was taken to hospital. Journalist Karakeçili was reported to be doing well and has obtained an assault report. Mayor Salih Ekinci said he “did not know about the incident.”

Mehmet Karakeçili, who recounted the assault and the events preceding it said that he had a photo taken with the district governor during the dinner and then went outside to leave. Karakeçili said the assault took place then with Salih Ekinci’s bodyguard telling him, “You won’t write anything about the municipality from now on; if you do, you’re a dead man.”

Journalist Mehmet Karakeçili claimed that the municipality was unhappy about one of the news reports he published about the organized industrial zone and this is why he was assaulted.

At least 45 journalists and media workers in prison 

As of 1 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.