Expression Interrupted

Journalists and academics bear the brunt of the massive crackdown on freedom of expression in Turkey. Scores of them are currently subject to criminal investigations or behind bars. This website is dedicated to tracking the legal process against them.

Secret witness who accused journalists confesses: I acted on behalf of the state

Secret witness who accused journalists confesses: I acted on behalf of the state

The secret witness heard as part of the trial of 11 journalists on charges of “membership in a terrorist organization” said that they had previously been employed at DİHA and the Mezopotamya Agency and that they had “acted on behalf of the state”

HAYRİ DEMİR, ANKARA

The second hearing in the trial of Mezopotamya News Agency (MA) managing editor Diren Yurtsever, MA Ankara newsroom head Deniz Nazlım, MA reporters Berivan Altan, Selman Güzelyüz, Hakan Yalçın, Emrullah Acar, Ceylan Şahinli; JinNews reporters Habibe Eren, Öznur Değer; MA reporter Zemo Ağgöz and former MA intern Mehmet Günhan on charges of “membership in a terrorist organization” was held at the Ankara 4th High Criminal Court on 5 July 2023.

At the hearing, which P24 monitored, journalists Deniz Nazlım, Selman Güzelyüz, Mehmet Günhan, Hakan Yalçın and Zemo Ağgöz, who were released following the first hearing, and their lawyers were present. The hearing was followed by many people, including administrators of the Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS) and the Ankara Branch of the Human Rights Association (İHD) and colleagues of the journalists on trial.

“The news I followed were made subject of accusations”

The hearing began with the defense statement by Ağgöz, who did not get to deliver a statement in the previous hearing. Stating that she was on trial for being an opposition journalist, Ağgöz said that the indictment had been prepared by making the news she followed and shared the subject of accusations.

Ağgöz said, “In the previous hearing, you asked whether the agency had a policy of hiring single people, because all my friends are single. I am married with children, and yet here I am before the court; so it has nothing to do with our friends being single.”

Ağgöz pointed out that the pressure on journalists was constantly increasing in keeping with the political climate and said, “Our journalistic activities are being questioned over inane claims and the agency we work for is criminalized. The Mezopotamya Agency is an organization that was established formally, it has reporters and subscribers from throughout Turkey. All its business and transactions are based on its legal status. We are being accused of working for Mezopotamya Agency. Yes, I work at the MA. So much so that using the press card issued through the MA, which is today being criminalized, I followed many court cases in this very courthouse, including some you presided over.”

Reacting to the case file containing the press statements and demonstrations she followed as evidence of crime, Ağgöz said, “Seven people from the same family were murdered in Konya and we at the agency began to follow this case from day one. We conveyed aspects of the case that were covered-up to the public. Now, we journalists who wrote about the actions of a murderer are facing charges. Should we not write about these things?” Stating that the phone conversations included in the indictment were conversations with colleagues about the report, Ağgöz said “My social media posts are news content and links to news items. I shared all of them for the purposes of reporting the news.”

Speaking about the secret witness’ testimony as part of the case, Ağgöz said “You ask us whether the MA has any connection with the PKK/KCK. You ask this question based solely on the witness’ testimony. Yet the same witness has provided false information about us, wasting the time of both the prosecution and the court. The secret witness claimed that I had spent time in prison, yet I was detained for the first time in my life as part of this investigation. The indictment is based on the false statements in the witness’ testimony and all the charges are based on such speculation.”

Ağgöz requested the lifting of judicial control measures imposed on her and to be exempted from attending future hearings.

Following the completion of Ağgöz’s defense statement, the court proceeded to hear the secret witness included in the case file.

Secret witness heard

The secret witness included in the indictment with the codename K8Ç4B3L1T5 was heard through the judicial videoconferencing system, which altered his/her voice and image. The secret witness was asked to tell the court about what they knew about the Mezopotamya Agency and JinNews. Providing information on these matters, the secret witness produced statements containing information about the journalists that can be obtained from open sources. The secret witness provided general information on which universities the journalists had attended and which agencies they had worked for.

The presiding judge asked the secret witness, “How did you come by this information? Were you active within the organization?” The secret witness responded “I worked in various parts of the organization, I worked in the press. I worked at the Mezopotamya News Agency.” In response to a question on for how long he/she had worked for DİHA, the secret witness said, “It would be better if I did not answer this question, your honor.”

Lawyer Özgür Erol said that the secret witness’ testimony read out in the courtroom was not included in the case file. The presiding judge said that the testimony contained information relevant to two investigations that are underway, in addition to the case at hand and had been uploaded on the National Judicial Network Informatics System (UYAP). However, upon realizing that the testimony had not been uploaded on the UYAP, the presiding judge said, “There has been an error, we will upload it.”

The secret witness, who stated working at the Mezopotamya News Agency said that they were not being investigated or prosecuted and that they had not benefited from effective remorse. When lawyer Özgür Erol asked the secret witness “Were you a public employee when undertaking such activities? Did you undertake these activities on behalf of the state,” they replied by saying “Yes”.

Lawyers Çiğdem Kozan and Ebru Akkal asked the secret witness how long their testimony had lasted and how they had identified the persons in question. The secret witness said that identification had been carried out over two days with five intervals each day and that the delivery of the testimony had lasted eight hours. They added that the police officers on duty had worked in shifts during the testimony.

The secret witness said that the photographs for identification had been provided by police officers.

Presiding judge: “Why do you report in a certain way?”

The court proceeded to hear MA licensed publisher Ferhat Çelik over SEGBİS. Çelik said that the journalists on trial had worked at the agency and that Ceylan Şahinli had begun work at the time when he was authorized. He added that they had signed contracts with the employees, that payments were evaluated in terms of the content, images and photographs used in the news item and payments were transferred between official bank accounts.

The presiding judge asked Çelik, “Why do you report in a certain manner, there are news items favoring the HDP.” Çelik said “On the contrary, we report in every field.”

Requests turned down

Following Çelik’s testimony, statements of the journalists who are free pending trial were heard. Speaking in turn, Nazlım, Güzelyüz, Günhan and Yalçın said that this was the first time they were hearing the secret witness’ testimony that was read out, that they could not access it in the case file, which was a violation of the right to a fair trial. The journalists requested the return of confiscated digital materials and the lifting of judicial control measures.

The court ruled to keep the judicial control measures in place and refused journalists’ request to be exempted from future hearings. The court ruled to deny the request for the return of confiscated digital materials at this point in the trial and adjourned the trial until 26 October 2023.

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