Journalist Abdurrahman Gök, who was detained in a house raid launched on 25 April 2023 and imprisoned pending trial on 27 April, has been released pending trial at the end of the second hearing

 

ÖZKAN KÜÇÜK, DİYARBAKIR

The fifth hearing in the trial of jailed Mezopotamya Agency (MA) editor Abdurrahman Gök, who is commonly known as the journalist who took the photos documenting the death of Kemal Korkut resulting from police shooting during the 2017 Newroz celebrations, on charges of “membership in a terrorist organization” and “terrorism propaganda” was held at the Diyarbakır 5th High Criminal Court on 5 December 2023.

 

Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS) Adana Branch Deputy President Sertaç Kayar, Emine Özhasar of the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) legal unit, Dicle Fırat Journalists Association (DFG) Co-chair Serdar Altan, Southeastern Journalists Union (GGC) Chair Felat Bozarslan and Gök’s colleagues and relatives monitored the hearing.

 

Along with Gök’s lawyers Resul Temur and M. Emin Aktar, MLSA Co-Director and lawyer Veysel Ok participated in the defense.

 

Witness Ümit Akbıyık, who attended via the judicial videoconferencing system, said that he had met Gök at Pel Production company and claimed that when they met, Gök told him he “was working in the press field of the organization.”

 

Gök’s lawyer Resul Temur asked witness Akbıyık whether he knew about any of Gök’s actions. Witness Akbıyık said he did not.

 

Attorney Temur then asked the witness, “When you met him in 2020, did you notice anything about the health status of Abdurrahman Gök?” Witness Akbıyık responded “No.”

 

Speaking against the statement of the witness who claimed to have met him at Pel Production in 2020, Gök said, “I was in a serious accident in January 2020 and for a long time I had to use crutches and a walking stick. Clearly, the witness is not telling the truth. In 2021, I attended a hearing in this courtroom with a walking stick.”

 

Gök added, “I have not seen the witness Akbıyık even in my dreams, this is the first time I am seeing him. I think the witness’ testimonies were unduly influenced.”

 

Speaking again, lawyer Temur said, “The witness’ testimony was sought after the arrest of Gök and it was changed by asking him directly about our client. Why does the date matter? Because our client was officially on leave on the dates mentioned and his leg was in a cast for a long time. This is why we asked the witness whether he had noticed anything about our client’s health. It is clear that they could not have met at the time he claims. It is also clear that the witness is not telling the truth. Therefore, we request that the court do not take into account the testimony of the witness.”

 

In the short defense statement he delivered, Gök’s lawyer M. Emin Aktar said, “It is clear that the witness’ evidence is guided by the police.”

 

Prosecutor requests Gök’s release

 

Asked for their final opinion on the case, the prosecutor requested Gök’s release, given the long period of time spent in remand and the fact the evidence had been collected.

 

Speaking once more on the request for his release, Gök said the following: “The main motivation behind all these cases I have encountered is that I published the photos showing the police killing Kemal Kurkut. It was the cause of the trial of the police officers who shot Kurkut and yet it is me who has constantly been on trial.”

 

Gök added, “I work as a journalist at the Mezopotamya Agency. The news items and books subject to the case file are a part of my journalistic activities. The news items subject to the indictment were published under my name.”

 

Speaking about the HTS (Historical Traffic Search) records, Gök said, “The people named in the HTS records are journalists. I know some of personally, it is natural that we should call each other. It is claimed that I spoke with some of them on the phone even when I was in prison.”

 

Gök went on as follows: “Of more than 200 videos, only the Kobanê documentary on the YouTube channel was made subject to the charges. I have been in that region several times. I shot a piece which documented how the town changed. I practiced journalism at the risk of getting killed. And it was [President] Recep Tayyip Erdoğan himself who said ‘We have opened the corridor to Kobanê’.”

 

Gök finished by saying he had never worked at Pel Production and had never seen the witness Akbıyık in his life.

 

“The case file shows that our client is a journalist”

 

Speaking about the request for Gök’s release, lawyer Temur said, “The case file, in its entirety, shows that our client is a journalist. Between the two hearings, before his arrest, our client went to Iran and was awarded the Musa Anter Award for Journalism for his reporting on the Mahsa Emini protests there.”

 

Lawyer Temur presented the court with the entry of judgment regarding the “membership in a terrorist organization” charge under another case in which Gök was tried and requested that the court’s decision to wait for the outcome of that case overseen at the Supreme Court of Appeals should not be taken as grounds for continued imprisonment and requested his client’s release.

 

In his statement, Gök’s lawyer Veysel Ok stated that the main aim in the court cases filed against journalist Abdurrahman Gök was to prevent him from continuing with his journalistic activities and said, “Pel Production is a legal company which pays tax and is still operating. Furthermore, our client has stated that he has not worked there. The witness claims he saw our client there for the first time. Would a reasonable person tell someone they just met about their organization connections, assuming they have any?”

 

Lawyers for the defense requested their client’s release on the grounds that the witness testimonies were inconsistent, they did not contain evidence of any actions of their client and the actions subject to the charges were activities undertaken professionally as a journalist.

 

Taking a short recess to arrive at a judgment, the panel of judges ruled to release Gök, with a ban on him travelling abroad for the “protection of integrity of evidence.”

 

The next hearing is scheduled 12 March 2024.

 

Background of the case

 

The trial of journalist Abdurrahman Gök, who was imprisoned pending trial on 27 April after being detained in a raid on his home on 25 April 2023, began on 14 September 2023, but the journalist was not released after the first hearing.

At that hearing, Gök had delivered his defense and stated that as with many other investigations he had faced over the years, this trial also had to do with the fact that he had photographed and documented the police killing of Kemal Kurkut at the 2017 Newroz celebrations.

Lawyer Resul Temur had argued that the entire case file showed his client to be a journalist and requested his client’s release, after stating that the indictment had followed an approach of imposing an interpretation upon the court instead of presenting tangible evidence.

The other lawyer for the defense, Mehmet Emin Aktar, had argued that the actual motivation for the trial was that his client was the person who had brought the police killing of Kemal Kurkut on 21 March 2017 to light through photographs, and requested his client’s release as there was a lack of sufficient evidence in the indictment.

The panel of judges had ruled that Gök presented a risk of flight and ruled for his continued remand, while adjourning the trial until 5 December 2023.