Nazlı Ilıcak, a well-known columnist, TV host and former parliamentarian aged 75, was arrested on 26 July 2016 as part of an operation targeting journalists alleged to have links with the Gülen movement, which the government accuses of maintaining a terrorist network (FETÖ/PDY) and staging the 15 July 2016 coup attempt.

Ilıcak, who wrote for the mainstream media for decades, was a commentator for Özgür Düşünce newspaper, run mostly by former journalists of Zaman who were fired from the daily after it was taken over by a court-appointed board of trustees in March 2016, and Can Erzincan TV before she was arrested. Both outlets were closed down by an emergency decree that was issued on 27 July 2016, along with more than 100 other media institutions.

Ilıcak and 16 other journalists were jailed pending trial on 30 July 2016, reportedly on charges of “being members of a terrorist organization.”

On 14 April 2017, Anadolu news agency reported that an indictment sent to the İstanbul 26th High Criminal Court in April 2017 sought three aggravated life sentences for Ilıcak on charges of “attempting to overthrow the constitutional order, Parliament, and the government” and an additional prison term of up to 15 years for “aiding a terrorist organization without being its member.” The prosecutor accused Ilıcak and 16 other people in the indictment, mostly journalists, of “participating” in the July 15, 2016 coup attempt, maintaining that they knew the coup attempt beforehand and thus were in collaboration with the coup plotters.

The full text of the indictment against Ilıcak and other defendants -- in Turkish -- can be accessed here.

Ilıcak and six other people, five of whom are in pre-trial detention, appeared before the Istanbul 26th High Criminal Court for the first hearing of the case on 19-23 June 2017. Ilıcak rejected all accusations and requested her release, saying she had no intention to leave the country. The court, announcing its interim ruling at the end of the five-day hearing, decided to keep all six imprisoned defendants in pre-trial detention.

Ilıcak again rejected the accusations and said no evidence has been presented to support them at the second hearing, held on 19 September 2017.

On 13 November, at the end of the third hearing, the court again ruled to keep all defendants behind bars.

The fourth hearing in the trial was held on 11 December 2017 at the Istanbul 26th High Criminal Court.

The fifth and final hearing in the case was held on 12-16 February 2018. The first day of the hearing took place on 12 February at the Istanbul Courthouse, but the rest of the trial was moved to a courtroom inside the Silivri Prison complex. Ilıcak made her final defense statement on the second day of the hearing on 13 February, when she rejected the accusations once again. The full text of Ilıcak's defense statement (in Turkish) can be found here.

On 16 February 2018, Ilıcak and five of her co-defendants were sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment on the charge of "attempting to overthrow the constitutional order." 

Appellate court judgment

Defense lawyers appealed the judgment with the 2nd Criminal Chamber of the Istanbul Regional Court of Justice. The appellate court formally accepted the case on 27 June 2018 and ruled to release Ilıcak's co-defendant Mehmet Altan based on an earlier Constitutional Court judgment but decided to keep the rest of the defendants, including Ilıcak, in jail.

The first appellate court hearing took take place on 21 September 2018, when six defendants in the case made their statements before the 2nd Criminal Chamber of the Istanbul Regional Court of Justice. After the defense statements, the prosecutor submitted their final opinion, in which they stated that the defendants should be sentenced as charged.

In an interim ruling, the appellate court rejected defense lawyers' requests for their clients' release and adjourned the trial until 2 October 2018.

During the second and final hearing held on 2 October 2018, the defendants made their statements in response to the prosecutor’s final opinion. Ilıcak was the first defendant to address the court during the hearing. She said that her statements were being ignored despite having already rebutted all accusations against her. Noting that during her time as a columnist for Bugün daily, the newspaper’s owner Akın İpek did not face any investigations, Ilıcak added that allegations that Can Erzincan TV, where she hosted a political discussion show, had ties with the Fethullah Gülen movement should be clarified by the station’s owner, Recep Aktaş.

Calling attention to the Constitutional Court’s Mehmet Altan judgment, Ilıcak told the court that she was facing similar accusations and that the top court’s ruling should set a precedent for defendants with similar facts. Ilıcak also noted that the “coup” charges against the defendants were dropped in the later stages of the proceedings in two recent major media trials, one of them being the “Zaman trial.”

The full text of Ilıcak’s defense statement (in Turkish) can be accessed here. 

Rendering its judgment at the end of the hearing, the 2nd Criminal Chamber of the Istanbul Regional Court of Justice rejected the appeals against the aggravated life sentences and ruled for the continuation of detention of all imprisoned defendants in the case, including Ilıcak.

Supreme Court of Appeals ruling

On 8 January 2019, the Office of the General Prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals requested the reversal of the trial court’s verdict in the case. The Office of the General Prosecutor said in their judicial opinion submitted to the 16th Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals that Ilıcak and the Altan brothers should have been charged with “aiding a terrorist organization without being its member,” instead of the much serious charge of “attempting to overthrow the constitutional order.”

The judicial opinion asserted that “force and violence” were the essential elements of the charge of “attempting to overthrow the constitutional order” as described in TCK 309, adding that the concepts of “immaterial force” or “threat” were unacceptable in proving this charge in respect of the principle of legality.

On 5 July 2019, the 16th Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals overturned the judgment rendered by the trial court that sentenced Nazlı Ilıcak, Ahmet Altan, Mehmet Altan and three of their co-defendants to aggravated life imprisonment on the charge of “attempting to overthrow the constitutional order.” The Chamber ruled that Mehmet Altan should be acquitted while Nazlı Ilıcak and Ahmet Altan should face the lesser charge of “aiding a terrorist organization without being its member.”

Constitutional Court application 

On 26 April 2019, the Constitutional Court announced that its Plenary would take up Ilıcak's individual application on 2 May 2019, along with those filed on behalf of nine other people, including her co-defendant in the "coup" case, Ahmet Altan. On 3 May 2019, at the end of the second day of deliberations, the Plenary rejected Ilıcak's application through a unanimous vote, finding "no rights violations" in her file.

The Constitutional Court’s Plenary published the judgments concerning its 3 May 2019 decisions on 26 June 2019 on its official website. The judgments concerning the rejected applications said, in a nutshell, that “the assessments made by the investigation authorities and the decisions rendered by the courts that ruled for [the journalists’] arrests could not be deemed as ‘arbitrary and baseless’.”

Retrial

The Istanbul 26th High Criminal Court announced on 18 July 2019 that the first hearing of the retrial would be held on 8 October 2019. The court rejected the requests for Ilıcak and her four jailed co-defendants, who have all been in pre-trial detention for more than three years as part of this case, to be released pending trial.

The retrial of the “coup” case against Altans, Ilıcak and their three co-defendants got under way on 8 October 2019. At the end of the hearing, the court decided to abide by the Supreme Court of Appeals judgment and to keep the five imprisoned defendants in pre-trial detention. The court adjourned the case until 4 November 2019.

Judgment and release

The second hearing of the retrial of Altans and Ilıcak took place on 4 November 2019 at the Istanbul 26th High Criminal Court. Rendering its judgment at the end of the hearing, the court sentenced both Nazlı Ilıcak and Ahmet Altan on the charge of “aiding a terrorist organization without being its member” and ruled to release both journalists, taking into consideration the time they spent in pre-trial detention.

The court handed down Ilıcak a prison sentence of 8 years and 9 months and imposed an international travel ban on both Altan and Ilıcak. The court acquitted Mehmet Altan and lifted the judicial control measures imposed on him but sentenced the three remaining defendants in the case -- Fevzi Yazıcı, Yakup Şimşek and Şükrü Tuğrul Özşengül -- on the charge of “membership in a terrorist organization” and ruled for the continuation of their detention.

Ilıcak was released from the Bakırköy Women's Prison on 4 November 2019 based on the court’s ruling after spending more than three years in detention on remand as part of this case.

Supreme Court of Appeals overturns sentence

Citing the trial court’s failure to apply the reductions prescribed by the law in the sentence given to Ilıcak and Altan in the retrial in 2019, the Supreme Court of Appeals quashed their sentences on the charge of “aiding a terrorist organization without being its member” (Article 220/7 of the Turkish Penal Code). The Court’s decision was made public by the state-run Anadolu Agency. The Supreme Court of Appeals also ruled to uphold the sentences of Yazıcı, Şimşek and Özşengül.

On 29 April 2021, the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Supreme Court of Appeals demanded the lifting of the 16th Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals ruling dated 14 April 2021 and the overturning of Yazıcı, Şimşek and Özşengül’s convictions.

On 8 December 2022, the Supreme Court of Appeals Assembly of Criminal Chambers overturned the convictions of Özşengül, Yazıcı and Şimşek and remanded the case file to the Istanbul 26th High Criminal Court for a retrial. The trial court issued a preliminary proceedings report in line with the Supreme Court of Appeals ruling on 2 March 2023. The court separated the file against Özşengül, who died of a heart attack in Silivri Prison on 30 July 2022.

Second retrial 

The first hearing in the retrial of Nazlı Ilıcak, Ahmet Altan, Fevzi Yazıcı and Yakup Şimşek was held at the Istanbul 26th High Criminal Court on 13 June 2023. P24 monitored the hearing, attended by Ilıcak, Şimşek and Yazıcı and defense lawyers. The court ruled unanimously to abide by the Supreme Court of Appeals’ decision to overturn.

The second hearing in the retrial was held on 26 October 2023. Rejecting Yazıcı’s request for an expert report, the court ruled to send the case file to the prosecutor’s office for the final opinion to be drafted. The trial was adjourned until 14 February 2024.

The prosecutor submitted their final opinion to the court on 18 January 2024, requesting sentencing for Ilıcak, Altan, and Yazıcı on the charge of “aiding a terrorist organization without being a member” under Article 220/7 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) and Şimşek’s acquittal of the “membership in a terrorist organization” (TCK 314/2) charge. 

The final hearing of the retrial was held on 14 February 2024. P24 monitored the hearing, which was attended by Ilıcak, Yazıcı, Şimşek, and the lawyers representing all four defendants.

Ruling in line with the final opinion, the court sentenced Ilıcak to 5 years and 3 months, Altan to 6 years, 3 months and 18 days, and Yazıcı to 1 year and 13 months in prison on the charge of “aiding a terrorist organization without being a member” and acquitted Şimşek of “membership in a terrorist organization.” The court ruled for the continuation of the judicial control measures imposed on Ilıcak and Altan.

"Espionage" case 

In January 2018, the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office issued a new indictment against Ilıcak, accusing the journalist of “disclosing confidential information for the purpose of political or military espionage” under Article 330/1 of the Turkish Penal Code, which carries a penalty of life imprisonment. The accusation stemmed from Ilıcak's article headlined “Askerî İstihbarat ve Tahşiyeciler” (The Military Intelligence and Tahşiyeciler), published in the now-defunct Bugün daily on 2 January 2015.

The indictment was first sent to the 15th High Criminal Court of Ankara, which decided that it did not have jurisdiction and subsequently sent the file to Istanbul because Bugün newspaper was headquartered in Istanbul.

The first hearing of Ilıcak's trial was held at the Istanbul 26th High Criminal Court on 9 April 2018. At the second hearing held on 23 May 2018, the prosecutor asked the court to accept a request from the Defense Ministry to join the case as a co-plaintiff. The prosecutor also requested further investigation about whether Ilıcak had mentioned the content of her article on other media, including television programs, newspapers or social media. Ilıcak, who addressed the court via SEGBİS from the Bakırköy Prison, objected to the prosecutor's request, saying that whether an article was quoted by social media users or other media outlets was not up to the author of that article. Ilıcak and her lawyers said the case must be dismissed based on the four-month statute of limitations in the Press Law. The court ruled to allow the Defense Ministry to join the case as a co-plaintiff and accepted the prosecutor's request for further investigation.

The third hearing of the case was held on 6 September 2018. P24 monitored the hearing. The prosecutor submitted their final opinion, requesting an aggravated life imprisonment sentence for Ilıcak on the imputed charge.

The fourth hearing took place on 9 October 2018. Ilıcak's defense statement was interrupted by the presiding judge, who stated that the panel was the substitute panel of the court, and also that some evidence had yet to be added to the case file. Ilıcak then requested her acquittal and wrapped up her statement. Ilıcak’s lawyer Kemal Ertuğ Derin told the court that the case should be dismissed based on the statute of limitations and requested his client's acquittal. The court adjourned the trial until 22 January 2019 awaiting the submission of documents missing in the case file.

The fifth and final hearing of the trial took place on 22 January 2019. P24 monitored the hearing, during which Ilıcak addressed the court from the Bakırköy Prison via SEGBİS. Although Ilıcak requested a continuance to prepare an additional defense statement regarding the newly introduced evidence against her in the case file, the court rejected Ilıcak's request and went on to render its judgment at the end of the hearing, sentencing Ilıcak to 5 years and 10 months in prison on the charge of "disclosing information that should remain confidential for reasons relating to the security, or domestic or foreign political interests of the State" under Article 329 of the Turkish Penal Code.

“Libel” case

An indictment was filed against Ilıcak on the charge of “libel” upon a complaint by Public Prosecutor Orhan Bakırcı on account of her article titled “Hanefi Avcı’nın Operasyon Beklentisi” (Hanefi Avcı's expectation for an operation), which was published on the now-defunct news portal Özgür Düşünce on 16 June 2016. The indictment was accepted by the Istanbul 15th Criminal Court of First Instance, which started overseeing the trial in 2021.

Concluding the case at the hearing held on 19 April 2022, the court sentenced Ilıcak to 2 years and 6 months in prison on the charge of "libel."

Ilıcak surrendered to prison on 4 December 2023 to serve this sentence after a regional court of appeals upheld Ilıcak's conviction.

Ilıcak first went to Hendek Women's Open Prison with her lawyer to surrender. However, she was told that she could not surrender to an open prison because she was already on probation serving another sentence she had been given in her trial on "espionage" charge. Therefore Ilıcak surrendered to the Sakarya Prison. Her lawyer stated that Ilıcak was expected to stay in prison for about 2 to 3 weeks and would then be transferred to an open prison, after which she will again be eligible for probation.

Ilıcak was released from the Hendek Open Prison in Sakarya province on 28 January 2024 after spending nearly two months behind bars over a column she penned in 2016. Ilıcak was released under probation.

Click here to read Nazlı Ilıcak’s answers to our questionnaire about prison conditions.