Ruling to hear former Zaman columnist Hüseyin Gülerce as a witness, the court set 11 January 2022 as the date for the next hearing

The second hearing in the retrial of former Zaman columnists Şahin Alpay, Ali Bulaç, Mümtazer Türköne and editor Mehmet Özdemir was held at the Istanbul 13th High Criminal Court on 9 September 2021.

The retrial was ordered by the Supreme Court of Appeals, which reversed Alpay, Bulaç and Türköne’s sentences and Özdemir’s acquittal.

P24 monitored the hearing. Türköne, Alpay and Bulaç, who are currently charged with “aiding a terrorist organization without being its member,” were in attendance with their lawyers. Özdemir, who is now charged with “membership in a terrorist organization,” did not attend.

The court heard two witnesses, academics Binnaz Toprak and Zekeriya Tüzen, who both testified regarding Şahin Alpay. Professor Toprak told the court that Alpay wrote columns for Zaman daily and had no other ties with the newspaper’s management or the Fethullah Gülen network. Tüzen also told the court that he knew Alpay as an academic and had no information to support the accusation against Alpay.

Türköne addressed the court next, demanding the lifting of his international travel ban, citing his medical condition.

Bulaç told the court that he will submit the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) judgment issued on 8 June 2021, which held that Bulaç’s detention as part of the “Zaman trial” violated his right to liberty and security (ECHR 5/1) and his freedom of expression (Article 10). Additionally, Bulaç demanded that his digital equipment seized by the authorities be returned.

In an interim ruling, the court refused to lift Türköne’s international travel ban. Ruling to return Bulaç’s digital equipment after taking a copy of their content, the court also decided to request the Turkish translation of the ECtHR’s Ali Bulaç judgment. Also ruling to issue subpoenas for former Zaman columnist Hüseyin Gülerce and another witness requested by Alpay’s lawyer Aynur Tuncel Yazgan, the court adjourned the trial until 11 January 2022.

Case background

Eleven former columnists and editors of Zaman, which was closed by the government following the 15 July 2016 coup attempt, were charged with “attempting to overthrow the constitutional order,” “membership in a terrorist organization," "terrorism propaganda" and "aiding a terrorist organization" in the Zaman trial. At the final hearing of the case, held in July 2018, editor Mehmet Özdemir, columnists Lale Sarıibrahimoğlu, Nuriye Ural, İhsan Dağı and lawyer Orhan Kemal Cengiz were acquitted of all charges while columnists Ahmet Turan Alkan, Şahin Alpay, Ali Bulaç, Mümtazer Türköne and Mustafa Ünal and editor İbrahim Karayeğen were sentenced for "membership in a terrorist organization."

Ruling on the case on 24 September 2020, the 16th Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals upheld the convictions of Alkan, Ünal and Karayeğen and the acquittals of Sarıibrahimoğlu, Ural, Dağı and Cengiz while overturning Özdemir’s acquittal and the sentences for Alpay, Bulaç, Türköne.

The first hearing of Alpay, Bulaç, Türköne and Özdemir’s retrial was held on 13 April 2021.