The prosecutor asks the court to convict former editors Hicran Urun, Mehmet Ali Çelebi, Reyhan Hacıoğlu, İshak Yasul, employee Pınar Tarlak and publisher İhsan Yaşar

CANSU PİŞKİN, İSTANBUL

The third hearing in the retrial of the former publisher, editors and staff members of Özgürlükçü Demokrasi newspaper, which was shut down under a statutory decree in 2018, was held on 7 April 2022 at the İstanbul 23rd High Criminal Court. The prison sentences and acquittals given in 2019 to the pro-Kurdish newspaper’s former editors and publisher and staffers were overturned in March 2021 by a regional court of justice, which also ordered a retrial.

P24 monitored the hearing. Lawyers Özcan Kılıç and Sercan Korkmaz, representing the defendants, were in attendance.

At the hearing, the prosecutor submitted their final opinion, asking the court to convict editors Hicran Urun, Mehmet Ali Çelebi and Reyhan Hacıoğlu; responsible managing editor İshak Yasul; publisher İhsan Yaşar and staffer Pınar Tarlak on the charges of “membership in a terrorist organization” under Article 314/2 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK), “making propaganda for a terrorist organization” under Article 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law (TMK) and “successively printing or publishing statements by terrorist organizations” under Article 6/2 of TMK. In addition, the prosecutor requested that Mizgin Fendik, the former distributor of the newspaper in the Yüksekova district of Hakkâri province, be acquitted on the grounds that she could not be held liable for the content of the shuttered daily because of “fulfilling her duty to distribute the newspaper.”

Lawyer Özcan Kılıç requested additional time to prepare their defense statements in response to the prosecutor’s final opinion. Accepting the request for continuance, the court adjourned the trial until 14 June 2022.

Case background

In March 2018, Özgürlükçü Demokrasi newspaper was appointed a trustee by the government. The newspaper’s publisher İhsan Yaşar; responsible managing editor İshak Yasul; editors Mehmet Ali Çelebi, Reyhan Hacıoğlu, and Hicran Urun, and staff member Pınar Tarlak was arrested in April 2018 as part of an investigation launched against the newspaper. 

The newspaper was shut down under a statutory decree in July 2018. The Terror and Organized Crime Investigation Bureau of the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office issued an indictment against 14 employees of the newspaper, including the six persons who were previously arrested and were behind bars at the time. The defendants were charged with “membership in an armed terrorist organization,” “making propaganda for a terrorist organization” and “printing or publishing statements by terrorist organizations.”

Pınar Tarlak was released pending trial at the first hearing of the case, which was held on 12 September 2018. Journalists Yasul and Urun remained in prison for one year, while Hacıoğlu, Çelebi and Yaşar each spent 1 year and 3 months behind bars as part of the case until they were released at the final hearing, which took place on 28 June 2019.

Announcing its decision at the end of the final hearing, held on 28 June 2019, the İstanbul 23rd High Criminal Court ruled to acquit human resources officer Pınar Tarlak, distributor Mizgin Fendik and driver Ramazan Sola of all charges, and separate the file against defendants Fırat Benli, Yılmaz Yıldız, Ersin Çaksu, Günay Aksoy, Önder Elaldı and Davut Uçar, who were on trial in absentia.

The court sentenced editors Reyhan Hacıoğlu and Hicran Urun and responsible managing editor İshak Yasul to 3 years 1 month and 15 days each in prison on the charge of “knowingly and willingly aiding a terrorist organization without being part of its hierarchical structure.” Editor Mehmet Ali Çelebi was also sentenced to 3 years and 9 months in prison on the same charge, but his penalty was not reduced. İshak Yasul was handed down an additional sentence of 1 year 6 months and 22 days in prison for “successively making propaganda for a terrorist organization through the press or broadcasting.” İhsan Yaşar, the newspaper’s publisher, was acquitted of the terror-related charges levied against him, but was given a prison sentence of 10 months for “possession of an unregistered firearm,” which was commuted to a judicial fine of TL 500.

On 5 March 2021, a regional court of appeals reversed the prison sentences given to editors Urun, Çelebi and Hacıoğlu on the charge of “aiding a terrorist organization without being its member,” and to responsible managing editor İshak Yasul for “making propaganda for a terrorist organization” and “aiding a terrorist organization without being its member,” saying the sentences were not sufficient. The 27th Criminal Chamber of the İstanbul Regional Court of Justice also upheld the acquittal of Ramazan Sola, while reversing the acquittals of Fendik and Tarlak, and the judicial fine given to İhsan Yaşar on the charge of “possession of an unregistered firearm.” The court sent the case file to the İstanbul 23rd High Criminal Court for a retrial.