The retrial was ordered by the Constitutional Court, which held that the deferral of the sentence constituted a violation of Coşkun’s freedom of expression

CANSU PİŞKİN, ISTANBUL

The first hearing in the retrial of journalist Canan Coşkun on the charge of “marking a public official assigned with the fight against terrorism as a target” was held at the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court on 23 November 2023.

The retrial was ordered by the Constitutional Court, which held that the deferral of the sentence in the original trial violated Coşkun’s freedom of expression.

P24 monitored the hearing, where Coşkun and her lawyer were in attendance.

Addressing the court for her defense statement, Coşkun said her report was within the scope of the freedom of expression and requested her acquittal as per the Constitutional Court’s judgment.

Coşkun’s lawyer Abbas Yalçın told the court that the person mentioned in Coşkun’s report was not a police officer assigned with counter-terrorism duty. Yalçın said the legal elements of the crime were not present and requested Coşkun’s acquittal in line with the Constitutional Court’s judgment.

The prosecutor then requested that the case file be delivered to the prosecutor’s office for the drafting of their final opinion. Accepting the prosecutor’s request, the court adjourned the case until 22 February 2024.

Background of the case

The original case was filed against Coşkun on account of her report titled “Türkü söylediler tutuklandılar” (They sang a folk song and got arrested), published in Cumhuriyet newspaper on 21 August 2016.

Concluding the trial on 2 May 2017, the court had sentenced Coşkun to 10 months in prison for “marking a public official assigned with the fight against terrorism as a target” and deferred the sentence.

In its 29 March 2023 judgment concerning the application filed by Coşkun’s lawyer against the trial court’s decision to defer the sentence, the Constitutional Court ruled that the deferral of the sentence had constituted a violation of freedom of expression and ordered a retrial to remedy the consequences of the violation.