In a statement to P24, Aygül said, “This trial is a prime example of judicial harassment, it hangs constantly over our heads like the sword of Damocles”

FURKAN TUNÇDEMİR, BİTLİS

The trial of journalist Sinan Aygül on the charge of “membership in a terrorist organization” in the case known as the “Bitlis KCK case,” continued with the latest hearing at the Bitlis 2nd High Criminal Court on 5 November 2024.

The defendants and their lawyers did not attend the hearing, which was held summarily. P24 monitored the hearing.

The trial was adjourned until 4 March 2025.

Aygül: “The case contains journalistic activities”

Providing a statement to P24 at the courthouse, journalist Aygül said that the case constituted an attack on the freedom of the press and expression and stated, “The case contains only the news items I filed. It is a case built on my reporting, the live TV programs I appeared on and the demonstrations and activities I covered between 2008-2011. It consists solely of my journalistic activities. This case is an open attack on the freedom of the press and expression.”

Journalist Aygül added, “I was imprisoned pending trial in January 2011, the indictment was filed 17 months later, and our defense statements were not accepted because they were in Kurdish. I was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment in this case without ever getting to defend myself.”

“Court of Cassation requirements not applied”

Aygül pointed out that none of the requirements set out by the Court of Cassation in its decision to overturn had been applied in the eight years since the decision and said the following: “The Court of Cassation examined my case in 2016 and overturned it on many grounds. A retrial then began, but none of the requirements arising from the decision to overturn were applied. A ground for overturning was the requirement to question secret witnesses, but the court could not contact the secret witnesses. There was a requirement for a Forensics Institution examination and digital analysis of ambient voice recordings; the recordings were sent to the Forensics Institution twice, but no conclusion was reached. When the original recordings for digital data was asked for, they could not be found. Despite all this, they are still calling for sentencing. This trial is a prime example of judicial harassment, it is made to hang constantly over our heads like the sword of Damocles.”

“Long trials lead to new victimization”

Aygül’s lawyer Diyar Orak said, “This trial is unfortunately a very long running one. It is a case that should technically have been dismissed and should not result in sentencing. The Court of Cassation provided several grounds for overturning the verdict which have a bearing on the merits. This is a case that should be dismissed immediately.”

Lawyer Orak added that the trial process had brought heavy psychological pressure on Aygül and that long trial led to new victimization, saying, “We could assess this trial as a rights violation in its own right.”

Background of the case

Journalist Aygül was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment in November 2012, after being placed in pre-trial detention in 2011 and remaining in remand for two years pending the verdict.

In 2016, the Court of Cassation ruled to overturn the verdict and returned the case to the Bitlis 2nd High Criminal Court for a retrial.

The panel of judges changed many times during the retrial which has been ongoing for eight years. More than 30 defendants are on trial in the case that was filed in 2016.