Court rules to keep in place the ban on travelling abroad and to hear Kibriye Evren as witness in retrial of journalist Nurcan Yalçın

ARDIL BATMAZ, DİYARBAKIR

Journalist Nurcan Yalçın was sentenced to a total of 3 years 7 months and 22 days of imprisonment in 2021 for the crimes of “membership in a terrorist organization” and “terrorism propaganda.” After the verdict was overturned on merits, a retrial began.

The second hearing in Yalçın’s retrial was held at the Diyarbakır 9th High Criminal Court on 26 November 2024. Yalçın and her lawyer Resul Temur were present at the hearing.

Cases files merged

The case against Yalçın filed on the charge of “violating the Law no. 6415 on the Prevention of the Financing of Terorism” was merged with the present case.

Nurcan Yalçın, who had transferred TL 400 into the account of a convict being held at the same prison as journalist Kibriye Evren, who was held in remand in Diyarbakır for 13 months, was charged with “violating the Law on the Prevention of the Financing of Terrorism.” Although the investigation did not identify any connection between Yalçın and the convict in question and showed that Yalçın had not been registered as a visitor of this person, the prosecutor claims that the transfer of TL 400 to the convict constitutes sufficient evidence of the impugned crime.

Trial adjourned until 6 May 2025

Yalçın repeated her previous defense statements at the hearing, saying that both she and Kibriye Evren are journalists. She said, “I visited Kibriye Evren in prison. I sent the money to the person in question because she was Kibriye Evren’s cell mate and Kibriye owed her money. I reject the charges.”

The prosecutor requested the missing elements in the case file to be completed, while Nurcan Yalçın’s lawyer Resul Temur requested the convict in question and Kibriye Evren to be heard as witnesses. The presiding judge ruled to keep in place the ban on Yalçın travelling abroad, for the court to hear Kibriye Evren as witness and adjourned the trial until 6 May 2025.

Background of the case

In 2020, the Diyarbakır Chief Prosecutor’s Office filed an indictment against journalist Nurcan Yalçın on charges of “membership in a terrorist organization” and “terrorism propaganda.” The allegations against Yalçın were based on running activities at the Rosa Women’s Association, working at JinNews and sharing posts with news content on her social media account. In 2021, Yalçın was sentenced to 2 years and 1 month of imprisonment for the crime of “committing crimes on behalf of an organization without being a member” (TPC 220/6) and 1 year 6 months and 22 days for the crime of “terrorism propaganda.” The appellate court overturned the verdict of the Diyarbakır 9th High Criminal Court on merits, on grounds of “arriving at a verdict without examining the connections between the present case and other investigations and cases against Yalçın that were ongoing at the time of trial.” Following the appellate court’s decision to overturn the verdict, journalist Nurcan Yalçın’s retrial began at the Diyarbakır 9th High Criminal Court.