Bitlis Journalists’ Association President and Bitlis News Editor-in-Chief Sinan Aygül has faced many investigations and trials due to his reporting. Aygül was the first journalist to be arrested for the crime of “publicly disseminating misleading information” (Article 217/A), which was added to the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) in 2022 and is commonly known as the “disinformation” law. In June 2023, Aygül was assaulted and seriously injured by two armed security guards of Tatvan Mayor Mehmet Emin Geylani. As the victim of the assault, Aygül faced two investigations upon complaints filed by the assailants.

“Insult” case that concluded in 2015

The Tatvan Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office issued an indictment against Aygül on the charge of “insult” over his article published on Bitlis News on 10 December 2014. In the article, Aygül brought up claims of corruption in the geothermal energy project worth 450 million US dollars that was undertaken in Bitlis.

The prosecutor claimed that Aygül had "insulted" then AKP MP for Bitlis Vahit Kiler by using the term “kurt siyasetçi” (“shrewd politician”) and requested that the sentence for Aygül be increased as he had committed the alleged offense through the press.

The Tatvan 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance, which accepted the indictment, sentenced Aygül to a judicial fine of TL 1,500 at the final hearing of the case, held on 10 December 2015, and deferred sentence.

Upon another prison sentence for Aygül in a trial on the charge of “violating the secrecy of an investigation” becoming finalized, the Tatvan 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance scheduled a hearing to announce the deferred sentence on 10 November 2021. The court ruled to execute the judicial fine issued to Aygül. Aygül refused to pay the fine, upon which he was arrested and placed in prison on 13 September 2022. Aygül was released from prison the next day through a permit issued as part of measures for combating the COVID-19 pandemic.

Constitutional Court: Judicial fine violated Aygül's freedom of expression

On 21 May 2024, the Constitutional Court ruled that the judicial fine given in 2015 to Sinan Aygül on the charge of “insult” violated his freedom of expression. Ruling on Aygül’s 2021 application three years later, the court pointed out that Aygül being tried and sentenced over an article he wrote as a journalist may lead to a chilling effect on the enjoyment of the freedom of expression and silencing of dissenting voices in the society. In its unanimous judgment, the court ordered a retrial and that Aygül be paid TL 20,000 in non-pecuniary damages.

“Terrorism propaganda” case

The Bitlis Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office filed an indictment against Aygül on the charge of “terrorism propaganda” over an interview titled “Bitlisli Mele Ergül: Hendekler ilahi bir haktır” (Mele Ergül of Bitlis: Trenches are a God-given right) that was published on 1 January 2016 on the website “bitlishaber,” which Aygül owned at the time. The interview that was shown as evidence of the charge had been published on the website by a news bot which took the content directly from a news agency.

The Bitlis 2nd High Criminal Court accepted the indictment and at the final hearing held in 2018, found Aygül guilty of the alleged crime, sentencing him to a judicial fine worth TL 16,600 and deferred the sentence.

Upon another prison sentence for Aygül in a trial on the charge of “violating the secrecy of an investigation” becoming finalized, the Bitlis 2nd High Criminal Court scheduled a hearing to announce the deferred sentence on 14 October 2021 and ruled to execute the fine worth TL 16,660 on Aygül for “terrorism propaganda.”

“Violating the secrecy of an investigation” case

The Tatvan Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office issued an indictment against Aygül on the charge of “violating the secrecy of an investigation” over a report published on Bitlis News on 12 July 2019 about a 60-year-old man sexually harassing a 16-year-old girl.

In the indictment dated 15 July 2019, the prosecution claimed that Aygül “intervened in an ongoing investigation under a secrecy order by publishing the images” and requested sentencing for Aygül.

The Tatvan 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance, which accepted the indictment, issued its judgment at the first hearing of the trial held on 12 December 2019. Overlooking the fact that Aygül had removed the news article on 16 July in line with the ruling of another court, the trial court sentenced the journalist to 10 months of imprisonment. The court did not defer the sentence due to many investigations and court cases having been filed against Aygül.

The 1st Criminal Chamber of the Van Regional Court of Justice, an appellate court, which examined the case upon the objection of Aygül and his lawyer, issued its judgment on 29 April 2021. The court of appeals upheld the prison sentence given to Aygül, but commuted its duration from 10 months to 5 months.

Upon the finalization of this sentence by the court of appeals, Aygül was placed in prison on 30 June 2021 and was released on probation on 1 July 2021.

“Terrorism propaganda” investigation

The Bitlis Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation against Aygül on the allegation of “terrorism propaganda.” Aygül became aware of the investigation when he was called in to the Bitlis Police Department to give his statement on 26 January 2023 and learned that the investigation had been launched upon a complaint being received in March 2022 through the Presidential Center for Communications (CİMER).

Aygül, who gave his statement concerning the complaint that read, “The individual known as Sinan Aygün is carrying out terrorism propaganda on Twitter; if you don’t intervene, I will,” was released after giving his statement. The investigation against Aygül is still underway.

“Violation of inviolability of workplace” case

On 25 August 2020, Aygül reported that canned meat normally distributed to poverty-stricken people by the Turkish Red Crescent (Kızılay) was served to guests in a hotel owned by the Red Crescent Tatvan Office President Battal Taşar and his brother, Cemal Taşar, who is a deputy for Bitlis from the ruling AKP. Upon Aygül’s report, Battal Taşar filed a criminal complaint against the journalist on 28 August 2020 for “entering the kitchen of the hotel he owned without permission.”

More than two years later, the Tatvan Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office issued an indictment against Aygül on 12 January 2023 on the charge of “violation of workplace inviolability” upon Taşar’s complaint.

The trial, which commenced because the parties could not settle and was heard through the “simple trial procedure,” resulted in an imprisonment sentence of 6 months for Aygül for “illegally entering the workplace of another person.” The court commuted Aygül’s sentence to 4 months and 15 days in prison as per the simple trial procedure.

Upon Aygül and his lawyer objecting to the sentence, the Tatvan 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance scheduled a hearing for 19 September 2023 and sentenced Aygül to 6 months of imprisonment on the same charge.

“Disinformation” case

On 13 December 2022, Aygül shared a claim regarding the sexual assault of a 14-year-old child in Tatvan on his social media account. Approximately three hours after posting, Aygül was detained on suspicion of “inciting the people to hatred and enmity.” After his statements were taken at the police station and the prosecutor’s office on the allegation of “publicly disseminating misleading information,” Aygül was transferred to a Criminal Judgeship of Peace with a request for his arrest. The judgeship ordered Aygül's imprisonment on 14 December 2022 on the following grounds: “The documents included in the case file; the suspect’s statements that constitute an admission; the fact that given then national agenda, the published news will cause fear and panic among the public; the intention to disturb the public peace and order with the published news item and given the position of the suspect, the size of the audience he can influence can affect the internal and external security of the country constituting tangible evidence pointing to strong suspicion of the crime with which the suspect has been charged with, namely that of Publicly Disseminating Misleading Information as per Article 217/A-1 of the Turkish Penal Code; that evidence has not been fully collected and there is a strong suspicion that the suspect will evade or hide from investigation and prosecution; furthermore, given the lower and upper limits of sentencing foreseen by the law for the crime the suspect has been charged with, judicial control measures would be inadequate and the arrest of the suspect would be proportionate.”

Following an objection filed by Aygül’s lawyer Diyar Orak, the Tatvan Criminal Judgeship of Peace ruled to release Aygül on 22 December 2022, on the grounds that “the evidence has been collected; the suspect is not in a position to influence the collection of evidence; the continued remand of the suspect following this stage of the investigation would be excessive and disproportionate and the aims of the remand could be ensured through the application of judicial control measures.”

On 24 January 2023, the Tatvan Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, which ran the investigation, filed an indictment against Aygül on the charge of “publicly disseminating misleading information.” The prosecutor claimed that the investigation had shown that there was processed incident of sexual abuse on the date Aygül shared his post subject to the charge and emphasized that the investigation against Aygül had been initiated “upon sharing unfounded news pertaining to child sexual abuse, which is a sensitive topic on the national agenda.” The prosecutor also claimed that with his post, Aygül had “depicted members of the police force and the gendarmerie as suspects” and added that due to this post being shared by someone holding the title of the President of the Bitlis Journalists’ Association, thereby increasing the size of the audience to be influenced, Aygül should be sentenced to the upper limit foreseen by the law and be made to forfeit some of his rights.

The Tatvan 1st Criminal Court of First Instance, which accepted the indictment, delivered its judgment at the first hearing of the trial held on 28 February 2023. At the hearing, Aygül was asked whether he had shared the post subject to the charge himself; whether the post was true; where he had obtained the information in the post from; where he had obtained information that the suspects identified as police officers and specialist sergeants in the post indeed held these positions; where he had obtained information that the suspects had been brought to the Tatvan Courthouse for identification; how he knew about cover-ups in investigations where the perpetrators are police officers and specialist sergeants and which other investigations subject to a cover-up he knew about. Aygül did not deliver a defense statement and did not answer any of the questions. Following the defense statements by Aygül’s lawyers, the prosecutor presented their final opinion, asking the court to sentence the journalist as charged.

The court sentenced Aygül to 10 months of imprisonment on the charge of “publicly disseminating misleading information.” The sentence was not deferred since Aygül was already under probation as part of another sentence he had been given in another case.

The 2nd Criminal Chamber of the Van Regional Court of Justice, an appellate court, upheld the sentence given to Aygül just 33 days after the hearing.

Upon Aygül’s lawyers’ further appeal, the case was sent to the Court of Cassation. The Office of the General Prosecutor of the Court of Cassation delivered their opinion on 11 October 2023 and requested that the court uphold the sentence.

In May 2024, the 8th Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation overturned the 10-month prison sentence given to Aygül on the charge of “publicly disseminating misleading information” and held that the journalist should have been acquitted because the legal elements of the crime were not present.

Aygül investigated for “insult” after being assaulted

Aygül was seriously injured when he was assaulted by the two armed security guards of Tatvan Mayor Mehmet Emin Geylani on 17 June 2023. In his statement concerning the assault he had suffered, Aygül said that he had been threatened with the words, “You will die if you write about the mayor again.” Images emerging after the incident show police officer Engin Kaplan brandishing his gun to force away those coming to help Aygül. The two attackers, Yücel Baysalı and police officer Engin Kaplan, were jailed pneding trial on 18 June 2023.

On 11 August 2023, upon a complaint by the assailants who attacked Aygül, the Tatvan Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation against Aygül on allegations of “insult,” “causing bodily harm,” “armed attempt to cause bodily harm.” The prosecutor’s office decided not to prosecute, concluding that there was insufficient evidence to file a criminal case against Aygül and that his response to Baysalı constituted self-defense.

Bodyguards who assaulted Aygül released at first hearing

The first hearing in the trial of the two security guards who assaulted Aygül on the charge of “armed willful injury causing a permanent mark on the face and broken bones” was held on 14 September 2023. The Tatvan 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance ruled to release the two defendants, who were suspended from duty and placed in remand, under judicial control measures.

In January 2024, the assailants were each sentenced to 1 year, 5 months and 15 days in prison for “willful injury by arms.” Their sentences were deferred.

Aygül charged with “insult” upon complaint filed by assailants

Aygül was called in to give his statement on 14 November 2023 as part of an investigation on the allegation of “insult,” carried out by the Tatvan Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. Aygül found out during questioning that the investigation had been launched upon a complaint by the assailants Yücel Baysalı and Engin Kaplan over statements the journalist used while addressing a crowd that gathered in front of the Tatvan District Police Department where he had gone to file a criminal complaint against the assailants following the attack on 17 June 2023.

In December 2023, the investigation against Aygül turned into an "insult" case. The indictment issued by the Tatvan Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on the allegation of "insult" was accepted by the Tatvan 1st Criminal Court of First Instance. The court decided to hear the case in accordance with the "simple trial procedure."

The court rendered its judgment on 9 January 2024. Arguing that the expressions Aygül used in his statement were "not delivered in the heat of the moment" but "one day after the attack," the court sentenced Aygül to 2 months and 5 days in prison for "publicly insulting" the complainant Yücel Baysalı.  

Aygül was notified of the judgment on 23 January. Aygül's lawyer objected to the judgment.

Upon Aygül's objection, the court decided to hold a public hearing. The first hearing was held on 8 May 2024. P24 monitored the hearing, attended by Aygül, the complainant and lawyers for the parties. After Aygül and his lawyers delivered their defense statements, the complainant said he was withdrawing his complaint. Aygül stated that he rejected the withdrawal of the complaint. The court postponed the case until 5 June 2024.

At the end of the hearing held on 5 June 2024, the court ruled for Aygül's acquittal.

Aygül and his brother charged with "threat" in new case

In May 2024, a new court case was filed against Aygül for allegedly “threatening” former Tatvan Mayor Geylani's bodyguards who assaulted him in June 2023.

In the new case that is set to begin on 18 September 2024 at the Tatvan 1st Criminal Court of First Instance, Aygül will stand trial alongside his brother, Ahmet Aygül, who is facing the additional charge of “insult.”