The court agrees with the prosecutor’s opinion that “the impugned crime was not defined as a crime in the law”

ARDIL BATMAZ, DİYARBAKIR

The fourth hearing in the trial of Artı Gerçek Editor-in-Chief Ali Duran Topuz on the charge of “marking those assigned with fighting terrorism as targets” was held at the Diyarbakır 5th High Criminal Court on 7 November 2024. Topuz was on trial for publishing a news item concerning the reassignments of the prosecutor who ran the investigation against 18 journalists in Diyarbakır and the criminal judge of peace who ordered the arrest of the journalists.

The hearing, which was set to begin at 09:00 began at 09:40 due to the crowd along the hallway, where the courtroom for the hearing in Narin Güran murder case was also located.

Prosecutor cites “freedom of expression”

While Ali Duran Topuz did not attend the hearing, his lawyer Mehmet Emin Aktar was present. P24 monitored the hearing.

The prosecutor, who had requested time to prepare their final opinion on the case at the previous hearing, called for Topuz’s acquittal.

The prosecutor’s opinion stated that the news item fell within the bounds of freedom of expression and read, “The prosecution calls for the acquittal of the defendant as it is opined that the action falls within the bounds of freedom of expression rather than disclosing any secret information about the identity of the victim and that material elements and criminal intent for the impugned crime have not formed in this case in conformity with Court of Cassation rulings and the relevant jurisprudence.”

Topuz’s lawyer Aktar said they agreed with the opinion and added, “My client is a journalist and has reported within the bounds of freedom of expression. He did not add any commentary to the reporting. Freedom of the press and expression are essential for democracies. We request the acquittal of my client.”

The court agreed with the opinion of the prosecutor and ruled to acquit Topuz as the “impugned action was not defined as a crime in the law.”

Background of the cas

Artı Gerçek had reported on the reassignment of prosecutor N.K. who ran the investigation against 18 journalists, who were imprisoned pending trial in Diyarbakır on 16 June 2022, and the criminal Judge of peace Y.E.K. who ordered the arrest of the journalists, to another province through a Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK) circular with the headline "Gazetecileri soruşturan savcı ve tutuklayan hâkim tayin edildi" (Prosecutor investigating journalists and judge arresting them reassigned). The Diyarbakır Chief Prosecutor’s Office then filed an indictment against Artı Gerçek Editor-in-Chief Ali Duran Topuz, who had reported on the HSK, charging him with “marking those assigned with the fight against terrorism as targets.” The indictment was accepted by the Diyarbakır 5th High Criminal Court.