Turkey: Press freedom violations July 2019

21 Aug 19 | Turkey, Turkey Incident Reports

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Index on Censorship’s Monitoring and Advocating for Media Freedom project tracks press freedom violations in five countries: Azerbaijan, Belarus, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. Learn more.

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UPDATE: Trial of journalist Atakan Sönmez adjourned until November

Atakan Sönmez

19 July 2019 – The fourth hearing in the trial of journalist Atakan Sönmez, the former news director of Cumhuriyet daily’s online edition, took place at the 13th High Criminal Court of Istanbul, P24 reported.

Sönmez is charged with “spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization” over the Cumhuriyet website’s coverage of Turkey’s 2018 military operation on Syria’s Afrin. In the previous hearing the prosecutor requested the court to convict the journalist of “systematically spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization.”

Sönmez asserted that none of the news stories that form the basis of the accusations included terrorist propaganda or any other criminal intent and requested to be acquitted. In its interim ruling, the court granted Sönmez exemption from appearing in court and adjourned the trial until 7 November 2019.

Link(s): 

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1140881948937785344?s=20 

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

Journalist Adnan Bilen stands trial for “insulting the president”

19 July 2019 – Journalist Adnan Bilen’s trial on the charge of “insulting the president” in his social media posts got underway at the 4th Criminal Court of First Instance of Van, Mezopotamya news agency reported.

Bilen and his lawyer Haşem Baygümüş were in attendance in the courtroom. In his defense statement, Bilen said that the social media posts in question did not contain any insulting remarks. He also said those posts had been shared on social media by over 1 million people to date. “Are you going to press charges against all those 1 million people? Is this truly possible?” he asked.

Bilen’s lawyer requested the court to acquit his client. The court adjourned the trial until 8 November 2019.

Link(s): 

http://mezopotamyaajansi21.com/tum-haberler/content/view/63929

https://www.evrensel.net/haber/383294/gazeteci-adnan-bilen-paylasimim-hakaret-degil-elestiridir

https://gazetekarinca.com/2019/07/paylasimlarimin-arkasindayim-diyen-gazeteci-bilenin-durusmasi-ertelendi/

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

UPDATE: Retrial of Altans and Ilıcak case set to start in October

Ahmet Altan, Mehmet Altan and Nazli Ilcak

18 July 2019 – The criminal court that sentenced Ahmet Altan, Mehmet Altan, Nazlı Ilıcak and three of their co-defendants to aggravated life imprisonment in the “coup” case in 2018 will begin the retrial of the case on 8 October, P24 reported.

The 26th High Criminal Court of Istanbul, which will oversee the retrial after its initial verdict was overruled on appeal, rejected the requests for Ahmet Altan, Nazlı Ilıcak and their three co-defendants to be released pending trial. All five have been in pre-trial detention for almost three years as part of the case.

The trial court also ruled for Mehmet Altan, who was released pending trial last summer by the appellate court, to be “forcibly brought to the hearing.”

The retrial comes on the heels of a judgment by the Supreme Court of Appeals earlier this month, which overturned the trial court’s 2018 verdict and ordered a retrial.

Link(s): 

https://www.evrensel.net/haber/383369/altanlar-davasinda-yeniden-yargilama-8-ekimde

http://www.platform24.org/guncel/3854/altanlar-davasinda-yeniden-yargilama-8-ekim-de

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

UPDATE: Jailed journalist Harun Çümen given 7.5-years prison sentence

18 July 2019 – Jailed journalist Harun Çümen, who is the former responsible managing editor of the shuttered Zaman newspaper, was sentenced to 7 years and 6 months in prison on the charge of “membership in a terrorist organization” at the final hearing of his trial, P24 reported. 

The 32nd High Criminal Court of Istanbul ruled to keep Çümen behind bars during the appeal process. Çümen has been in pre-trial detention for the past 16 months.

Link(s): 

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1151785097860984834?s=20 

https://aktifhaber.com/15-temmuz/gazeteci-harun-cumene-75-yil-hapis-cezasi-h135050.html

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

Musa Kart

UPDATE: Supreme Court prosecutor requests quashing of verdict in Cumhuriyet trial

18 July 2019 – The Office of the General Prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals has requested the reversal of the verdict in the Cumhuriyet trial, online news website Anadolu Agency reported. Turkey’s highest appeal court is expected to review the prison sentences handed down for Cumhuriyet newspaper’s former journalists and executives Orhan Erinç, Akın Atalay, Murat Sabuncu, Hikmet Çetinkaya, Aydın Engin and Ahmet Şık for “aiding a terrorist organization without being its member” in the coming months. 

The Office of the General Prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals said in their judicial opinion that all defendants except Şık should be acquitted of all charges, while Şık should be charged with “praising a [terrorist] group and violence” and “spreading propaganda,” in which case he would face a combined sentence between 3.5 and 13.5 years.

The prosecutor asked the Supreme Court to reject the appeals filed by Emre İper and Ahmet Kemal Aydoğdu.

The prosecutor also sought the reversal of the verdicts for five former Cumhuriyet staffers – Musa Kart, Güray Öz, Önder Çelik, Hakan Kara and Mustafa Kemal Güngör – who are currently in prison. Their conviction became valid after a ruling by the Istanbul Regional Court as prison sentences less than five years can only be appealed once and are normally not subject to a review by the Supreme Court of Appeals. 

The case file will be overseen by the 16th Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals.

Link(s): 

https://t24.com.tr/haber/yargitay-dan-cumhuriyet-in-eski-yonetici-ve-yazarlarina-beraat-talebi,831166

https://bianet.org/bianet/insan-haklari/210611-yargitay-iki-kisi-disinda-cumhuriyetcilerin-beraatini-istedi

https://www.cnnturk.com/turkiye/cumhuriyet-gazetesi-davasinda-yargitay-bassavciligi-dosyayi-tamamladi

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

UPDATE: Journalist Kibriye Evren ordered to remain behind bars

18 July 2019 – Jailed journalist Kibriye Evren, a reporter for the female news collective JinNews, appeared before a Diyarbakır court for the sixth hearing of her trial, P24 reported. Evren faces charges of “membership in a terrorist group” and “disseminating spreading for a terrorist group.”

The prosecution had submitted their final opinion of the case during the previous hearing, requesting the court to convict the journalist of both charges. 

Addressing the 5th High Criminal Court of Diyarbakır for her defense statement, Evren said she has been jailed for the past 10 months based on statements by two secret witnesses and on her social media posts. Rejecting the accusations, Evren asked to be acquitted.

In its interim decision, the court ruled to inquire on the Şanlıurfa Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office about a 2016 investigation file against Evren on the allegation of “terrorist group membership.” The court ruled to keep Evren behind bars and adjourned the trial until 24 September 2019.

Link(s): 

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1151742674178859008?s=20

http://gazetekarinca.com/2019/07/gazeteci-kibriye-evrenin-tutukluluguna-devam-karari/

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

UPDATE: Can Dündar’s hearing on solidarity with Özgür Gündem adjourned

Can Dundar

18 July 2019 – The trial against the former editor-in-chief Can Dündar for joining the solidarity campaign with the now closed pro-Kurdish daily Özgür Gündem resumed in Istanbul, advocacy group Press in Arrest reported. The 22nd High Criminal Court of Istanbul, which oversees the trial, ruled to wait for the execution of the arrest warrant against Dündar and adjourned the trial until 28 November 2019. Dündar, who faces several trials and prison sentences, has been living abroad for more than two years.

Link(s): 

https://twitter.com/PressInArrest/status/1151765873599926272?s=20 

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

UPDATE: Rights defenders acquitted in “Özgür Gündem solidarity trial”

17 June 2019 – The 11th hearing in the trial against Professor Şebnem Korur Fincancı, the president of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV), Erol Önderoğlu, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Turkey representative, and journalist-writer Ahmet Nesin for joining in the “substitute editor-in-chief” campaign for the shuttered Özgür Gündem newspaper resumed at the Istanbul courthouse, P24 reported. All four were accused of “spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization,” “incitement to commit crime” and “praising crime and criminals.” 

Issuing its verdict, the court acquitted all the rights defenders. It was the first acquittal ruling issued by a court for those who joined the “substitute editor-in-chief” campaign in solidarity with the pro-Kurdish newspaper. Murat Çelikkan and Ayşe Düzkan have already served prison sentences on the same charges.  

Link(s): 

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1151389531943428096?s=20 

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/07/rsf-turkey-representative-acquitted-terror-charges-190717102827047.html 

https://t24.com.tr/haber/erol-onderoglu-sebnem-korur-fidanci-ve-ahmet-nesin-ozgur-gundem-davasinda-beraat-etti,831019

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

UPDATE: Eren Keskin’s file separated in Özgür Gündem case, trial adjourned

17 July 2019 – The 12th hearing in the trial against Eren Keskin and Hüseyin Aykol, the former co-editors-in-chief of the closed down pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgür Gündem, its former responsible managing editor Reyhan Çapan and journalist Hasan Başak resumed in Istanbul, P24 reported. All four face charges of “praising crime and criminal,” “incitement to commit crimes” and “spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization”. 

Keskin’s file has been separated from the case and sent to the 23rd High Criminal Court; it will be merged with the ongoing main trial, where she faces similar accusations.

The prosecutor submitted their final opinion, asking the court to convict Aykol, Çapan and Başak of “praising crime and criminals” and “incitement to commit crime.” The prosecutor also sought prison terms for Aykol and Başak on the “propaganda” charge, while they asked the court to convict Çapan of “systematically spreading terrorism propaganda.”

Granting time for the preparation of the final defense statements in response to the prosecutor’s final opinion, the court adjourned the trial until 21 November 2019.

Link(s): 

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1151416664275214336?s=20 

http://gazetekarinca.com/2019/07/ozgur-gundem-davasi-aykol-dahil-yedi-gazeteciye-ceza-istendi/

https://bianet.org/bianet/ifade-ozgurlugu/210568-huseyin-aykol-reyhan-capan-ve-hasan-basak-a-ceza-talebi

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

Journalist Necla Demir faces new criminal investigation over anonymous tip

Necla Demir

17 July 2019 – The Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office of Bakırköy in Istanbul has launched a new investigation against journalist Necla Demir, the former publisher of the online news portal Gazete Karınca, the website reported. The allegation in the new investigation file is “incitement to hatred and animosity.”

 The investigation was launched upon an anonymous tip filed with the Presidency’s Communication Center (CIMER). 

Demir was referred her to a Criminal Judgeship of Peace after being interrogated by the prosecutor, who requested the implementation an international travel ban and other judicial control measures. In the previous case, the judgeship ruled that Demir did not have any intent of committing a crime and her actions were aimed at informing the public.

Link(s): 

http://gazetekarinca.com/2019/07/gazeteci-necla-demire-bu-kez-de-isimsiz-ihbarla-sorusturma/

https://www.gazetefersude.com/gazeteci-necla-demire-isimsiz-ihbarla-sorusturma-acildi-67077/

https://www.gercekgundem.com/medya/106164/gazeteciye-isimsiz-ihbardan-sorusturma

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

UPDATE: Journalist Deniz Yücel’s trial adjourned until October

Deniz Yücel’s lawyer, Veysel Ok, tweeted a picture of Yücel and his wife, Dilek Mayatürk, hugging in front of Istanbul’s Silivri prison. (Photo: Veysel Ok / Twitter)

16 July 2019 – The trial of Turkish-German journalist Deniz Yücel, the former Turkey correspondent of the German newspaper Die Welt, on the charges of “spreading propaganda for a terrorist group” and “inciting hatred and animosity” resumed at the 32nd High Criminal Court of Istanbul, P24 reported. 

The presiding judge announced that the court has just received the Constitutional Court’s ruling concerning the individual application of Yücel, in which the top court had ruled that Yücel’s pre-trial detention violated his rights to liberty and security, freedom of expression and freedom of the press.

Yücel’s lawyer then asked the trial court to acquit Yücel in line with the Constitutional Court ruling and without waiting for the defense statement, taken in May in Berlin, to be sent to the trial court. In its interim ruling, the court decided to wait until they receive Yücel’s statement and adjourned the trial until 17 October 2019.

Link(s): 

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1151048073197604870?s=20 

http://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/haber/turkiye/1490128/Deniz_Yucel_davasinin_4._durusmasi__istinabe_evraki_bekleniyor.html

https://gazetekarinca.com/2019/07/aym-hak-ihlali-karari-vermisti-deniz-yucelin-durusmasi-ertelendi/

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

Sendika.org editor Demirhan given jail term for “insulting the president”

16 July 2019 – Ali Ergin Demirhan, an editor for the news portal Sendika.Org, has been sentenced to 11 months and 20 days in prison on the charge of “insulting the president.”

Demirhan was on trial because of a social media post he had shared. The court deferred Demirhan’s sentence by five years, during which he would be subject to probation. Demirhan announced the verdict against him on 16 July 2019 in his Twitter account.

Link(s): 

https://twitter.com/ali_ergind/status/1151050770248294400

http://sendika63.org/2019/07/erdogana-hakaretten-11-ay-20-gun-hapis-cezasi-alan-demirhan-yazdiklarim-hakaret-degil-sorumlulugumun-geregidir-555007/

https://www.gazetefersude.com/gazeteci-ali-ergin-demirhana-erdogana-hakaret-suclamasiyla-hapis-cezasi-66919/

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

Journalist Ahmet Kanbal briefly detained

15 July 2019 – Ahmet Kanbal, a reporter for the Mezopotamya news agency, was taken into custody on 13 July 2019 in the southeastern province of Mardin, where he lives, the agency reported.

Kanbal was charged with “spreading propaganda for a terrorist group” over his social media posts and referred to the courthouse on 15 July. The court he was referred to by the prosecutor released Kanbal under judicial control measures and an international travel ban.

Link(s): 

http://gazetekarinca.com/2019/07/gazeteci-ahmet-kanbal-adli-kontrol-ile-serbest-birakildi/

https://www.artigercek.com/haberler/gazeteci-ahmet-kanbal-serbest-birakildi

https://www.medyakoridoru.com/sosyal-medya-paylasimlari-nedeniyle-ters-kelepce-takilarak-gozaltina-alinmisti-gazeteci-ahmet-kanbal-serbest-birakildi/

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

Ban on access to news story violates press freedom, top court rules

12 July 2019 – The Constitutional Court has found that an access ban targeting a news story published in the online edition of BirGün newspaper violated freedom of the press and freedom of expression, the newspaper reported. 

An Ankara judgeship had imposed an access ban on the footage featured on the website, which showed a local man tied behind an armored police vehicle and dragged during operations in Şırnak in 2015. BirGün had filed an application with the top court concerning the access ban. 

The Constitutional Court’s Plenary voted unanimously in favor of BirGün and also ruled to send a memo to the Gölbaşı Criminal Judgeship of Peace to lift the block on the news story.

Link(s): 

https://www.anayasa.gov.tr/tr/haberler/bireysel-basvuru-basin-duyurulari/habere-erisimin-engellenmesi-nedeniyle-ifade-ve-basin-ozgurlugunun-ihlal-edilmesi/

https://t24.com.tr/haber/aym-habere-erisim-engeli-karari-ifade-ve-basin-ozgurlugu-ihlalidir,830276

https://www.birgun.net/haber/aym-den-birgun-karari-habere-erisim-engeli-karari-ifade-ve-basin-ozgurlugu-ihlali-261534

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

UPDATE: Journalist Baransu to remain behind bars

Mehmet Baransu

12 July 2019 – The trial of the former executives of the shuttered daily Taraf and its reporter Mehmet Baransu was held at the 13th High Criminal Court of Istanbul over two days, P24 reported. The accusations in the case stem from the alleged publication of a document called “Egemen War Plan.”

Baransu, the only imprisoned defendant in the case who is in pre-trial detention in the Silivri Prison, was in attendance to continue with his defense statement. Former Taraf executives Ahmet Altan, Yasemin Çongar and Yıldıray Oğur, who are exempt from personal appearance in court, did not attend. They were represented by their lawyers.

Following the completion of statements by lawyers, the prosecutor requested the continuation of Baransu’s detention on remand. At the end of the two-day hearing, the court ordered the continuation of Baransu’s detention. Also ruling to wait for the execution of the arrest warrant against Tuncay Opçin, the fifth defendant in the case, the court adjourned the trial until 27, 28, 29 August. 

Link(s): 

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1149288074129682432?s=20 

https://www.timeturk.com/baransu-nun-tutukluluk-halinin-devamina-karar-verildi/haber-1129492

https://medyascope.tv/2019/07/12/taraf-gazetesi-davasi-baransuya-savunmasini-tamamlamasi-icin-sure-verildi-bir-sonraki-durusma-27-28-29-agustosta/

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

Journalist Hüseyin Aykol sent to prison

11 July 2019 – Veteran journalist Hüseyin Aykol, the former co-editor-in-chief of the shuttered pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgür Gündem, was sent to prison to serve a 3-year and 9-month sentence he was given in 2018, Mezopotamya news agency reported.

Aykol was taken into custody at noon on 11 July at his home in Ankara and was taken to the Sincan Courthouse. After the completion of the procedures at the courthouse, Aykol was sent to the Sincan F Type Prison in Ankara.

Aykol was convicted of “spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization” in January 2018 at the final hearing of a trial where his co-defendants included Mehmet Ali Çelebi and Ayşe Düzkan, who were among journalists who participated in the “substitute editor-in-chief” campaign for Özgür Gündem in 2016. The sentences given to Aykol and his co-defendants were upheld by the 3rd Criminal Chamber of the Istanbul Regional Court of Justice on 29 November 2018.

Aykol is currently a defendant in 63 separate trials, some of which are pending before appellate courts.

Link(s): 

http://mezopotamyaajansi21.com/tum-haberler/content/view/63233

https://m.bianet.org/english/freedom-of-expression/210345-journalist-huseyin-aykol-detained

https://www.evrensel.net/haber/382839/gazeteci-huseyin-aykol-cezaevine-goturuldu

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

UPDATE: Former Gazete Karınca publisher’s trial adjourned until October

11 July 2019 – The second hearing in the trial against Necla Demir, the former publisher of the online newspaper Gazete Karınca, took place at the 33rd High Criminal Court of Istanbul, P24 reported. Demir stands accused of “systematically disseminating propaganda for a terrorist organization” for the website’s coverage of Turkey’s 2018 military operation on Syria’s Afrin.

The presiding judge announced that the defense statements presented during the previous courtroom hearing were recorded but the tapes have yet to be transcribed. Lawyer Korkmaz informed the court that his client would be in attendance at the next hearing to make her defense statement in person. Issuing its interim ruling at the end of the hearing, the court adjourned the trial until 11 October 2019 for the delivery of Demir’s defense statement.

Link(s): 

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1149290863123750912?s=20 

http://gazetekarinca.com/2019/07/gazeteci-necla-demirin-durusmasi-ekim-ayina-ertelendi/

https://www.gazetefersude.com/gazeteci-necla-demirin-yargilandigi-dava-11-ekime-ertelendi-66313/ 

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

UPDATE: Journalist Mehmet Ali Çelebi released from prison

9 July 2019 – Mehmet Ali Çelebi, an editor for the shuttered pro-Kurdish Özgürlükçü Demokrasi newspaper, was released after 15 months in pre-trial detention, Mezopotamya news agency reported.

The court overseeing the trial of Özgürlükçü Demokrasi staff members had convicted Çelebi of “aiding a terrorist group without being its member” and sentenced him to 3 years and 9 months in prison at the final hearing of the case on 28 June 2019. The court had also ruled for Çelebi’s release, but the journalist remained behind bars due to a previous conviction on the charge of “spreading propaganda for a terrorist group” in last year’s “Özgür Gündem solidarity trial.”

Link(s): 

http://mezopotamyaajansi21.com/components/88122611/content/view/63096 

http://gazetekarinca.com/2019/07/gazeteci-mehmet-ali-celebi-tahliye-edildi/ https://www.gazetefersude.com/gazeteci-mehmet-ali-celebi-tahliye-edildi-66160/ 

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

UPDATE: Journalist Mehmet Gündem sentenced to 6+ years of jail

9 July 2019 – The 35th High Criminal Court of Istanbul sentenced journalist Mehmet Gündem to over 6 years in prison on the grounds of “membership in a terrorist organization”, P24 reported.

Addressing the court in his final defense statement, Gündem said: “I have been a journalist for 25 years. I have been using the same phone number since 1995. I have met people from all segments of the society. Some of the names mentioned in the phone records are the people I worked with at Zaman newspaper.” He also denied that he did present a flight risk, requesting his release and acquittal. “I was on vacation when I found out about the arrest warrant against me. I immediately returned and turned myself in. Then I was released. When yet another warrant was issued, I was at home. It is clear that I do not pose a risk of flight.”

Issuing its verdict at the end of the hearing, the court convicted Gündem of “membership in a terrorist group” and sentenced him to 6 years, 10 months and 15 days in prison. The court also ruled to release Gündem pending the appeal process.

Link(s): 

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1148498794096578561?s=20 

https://www.ntv.com.tr/turkiye/gazeteci-mehmet-gundeme-fetoden6-yil-10-ay-15-gun-hapis,myZwjAqaEU-HQSD1UbABCw

http://www.milliyet.com.tr/gundem/mehmet-gundeme-feto-uyeliginden-6-yil-10-ay-hapis-cezasi-2902134

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

UPDATE: Compensation case against Çiğdem Toker adjourned

9 July 2019 – The third hearing in a lawsuit against journalist Çiğdem Toker, filed by the mining company Şenbay Inc., was held on 9 July 2019 at the Ankara 13th Civil Court of First Instance, online news website T24 reported.

The mining company is seeking a record TL 1.55 million in non-pecuniary damages over an article Toker penned for Cumhuriyet daily in October 2017.

The court agreed to look into the official records of the tender, which was the subject of Toker’s column, as requested by the lawyer representing the company Şenbay Inc. and adjourned the trial until 17 October 2019.

Link(s): 

https://t24.com.tr/haber/gazeteci-cigdem-toker-e-acilan-1-5-milyon-liralik-tazminat-davasi-ertelendi,829781

https://www.evrensel.net/haber/382700/gazeteci-cigdem-tokerin-durusmasi-ertelendi

https://www.gercekgundem.com/medya/104386/gazeteci-cigdem-tokerin-durusmasina-erteleme

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Corporation / Company

Kars Co-mayor Ayhan Bilgen faces Özgür Gündem indictment

8 July 2019 – The Press Crimes Investigation Bureau of the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has issued an indictment against Kars Co-mayor Ayhan Bilgen, Mezopotamya news agency reported. The prosecution sent the indictment to a criminal court in Istanbul, which is intended to be merged with the ongoing trial against the shuttered pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgür Gündem main trial. Former executives and members of the advisory board of the shuttered newspaper are face up to life imprisonment as part of the ongoing trial. 

The indictment, dated 18 June 2019, accuses Bilgen of “disrupting the unity and integrity of the state,” “membership in a terrorist organization,” “disseminating propaganda for a terrorist organization,” “membership in an organization established for the purpose of committing crimes.” It also says that an investigation had been launched against Bilgen, who was also on Özgür Gündem’s editorial advisory board, as early as 2016. Bilgen’s file was eventually separated because he was a lawmaker at the time.

The 23rd High Criminal Court of Istanbul, which oversees the Özgür Gündem trial, is expected to decide on whether or not to merge Bİlgen’s file with the ongoing trial.

Link(s): 

http://gazetekarinca.com/2019/07/ayhan-bilgene-ozgur-gundem-davasi/

https://www.evrensel.net/haber/382650/ayhan-bilgen-hakkinda-ozgur-gundem-davasi

https://www.demokrathaber.org/siyaset/hdp-li-ayhan-bilgen-e-ozgur-gundem-fezlekesi-h71435.html

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

UPDATE: Journalist Parlak released after 15 months in pre-trial detention

8 July 2019 – Ferhat Parlak, a publisher based in Diyarbakır and reporter of the shuttered local newspaper Silvan Mücadele, appeared before a court for the first hearing of his trial on the charge of “membership in a terrorist group.”

The 11th Criminal Court of First Instance of Diyarbakır, which recently accepted the indictment against Parlak, ruled at the end of the hearing to release the journalist from pre-trial detention pending the conclusion of his trial, Mezopotamya news agency reported. The court imposed an international travel ban on Parlak. Parlak, who was jailed in April 2018, has been in detention on remand for 15 months.

News reports and footage from the case file where Parlak was previously convicted of “propaganda” were also included in the new case file. The prosecution seeks up to 15 years in prison for Parlak. The second hearing of the trial will be held on 6 November 2019.

Link(s): 

http://mezopotamyaajansi21.com/tum-haberler/content/view/62604

https://m.bianet.org/english/human-rights/210232-journalist-ferhat-parlak-released

http://gazetekarinca.com/2019/07/15-aydir-tutukluydu-gazeteci-ferhat-parlak-ilk-durusmada-tahliye-edildi/

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

UPDATE: Appeals court overturned “coup” convictions in Altan’s case

5 July 2019 – The Supreme Court of Appeals has overturned the 2018 verdict by a criminal court that sentenced journalists Ahmet Altan, Mehmet Altan, Nazlı Ilıcak and three of their co-defendants to aggravated life imprisonment on the charge of “attempting to overthrow the constitutional order.” The verdict will lead to a retrial in one of the most high-profile journalistic trials, according to a report published by the state-run news agency Anadolu late on 5 July 2019.

The 16th Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals ruled that Mehmet Altan should be acquitted, citing lack of sufficient and credible evidence. Mehmet Altan was freed from pre-trial detention in June 2018 by a decision of the appellate court based on a Constitutional Court judgment back in January 2018 and is the only defendant who has been released in the case so far.

As for Ahmet Altan and Nazlı Ilıcak, the court said they should face the lesser charge of “aiding a terrorist organization without being its member.”

The decision, as cited by Anadolu, said it could not be proven that the defendants had participated in the crime of “attempting to overthrow the constitutional order” as perpetrators. 

However, the Supreme Court judges rejected requests for the release of Altan, Ilıcak and their three co-defendants in the case, who have all been in prison for about three years.

As for three other defendants in the case, the 16th Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals ruled that Fevzi Yazıcı, the former chief page designer of the shuttered daily Zaman, Yakup Şimşek, the newspaper’s marketing director, and former Police Academy lecturer and commentator Şükrü Tuğrul Özşengül should be charged with “membership in a terrorist organization,” which carries up to 15 years in jail, instead of “attempting to overthrow the constitutional order.”

The case is now expected to be sent back to the trial court, the 26th High Criminal Court of Istanbul, for retrial.

In January 2018, the Constitutional Court ruled that Mehmet Altan’s detention was in violation of his right to personal liberty and security and freedom of the press and freedom of expression. However, both the trial court and the next court of first instance refused to implement the top court’s judgment and release Altan.

In February 2018, the 26th High Criminal Court of Istanbul sentenced the Altans, Ilıcak and three of their co-defendants to aggravated life imprisonment for “attempting to overthrow the constitutional order” as per Article 309 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK). The indictment claimed that the defendants “had prior knowledge of the coup attempt of July 2016,” which the government claims to have been carried out by the religious movement led by Fethullah Gülen.

On 27 June 2018, the appellate court that took up the case ruled that Mehmet Altan should be released on the basis of the Constitutional Court ruling.

In October 2018, the 2nd Criminal Chamber of the Istanbul Regional Court of Justice, the appellate court overseeing the case, rejected the appeals and ruled for the continuation of detention of all imprisoned defendants in the case.

On 3 May 2019, the Constitutional Court rejected the individual applications filed on behalf of Ahmet Altan and Nazlı Ilıcak. In its reasoned judgments issued on 26 June 2019, the Constitutional Court said “the assessments made by the investigation authorities and the decisions rendered by the courts that ruled for [the journalists’] detention could not be deemed as ‘arbitrary and baseless’.”

Link(s): 

https://t24.com.tr/haber/yargitay-dan-altan-kardesler-ve-ilicak-davasindaki-cezalar-icin-bozma-karari,829287

https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/gundem/2019/07/05/yargitay-nazli-ilicak-ve-altan-kardeslere-verilen-cezalari-bozdu/

https://www.evrensel.net/haber/382504/yargitay-altan-kardesler-ve-ilicaka-verilen-muebbet-hapis-cezasini-bozdu

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

Journalist Cengiz Erdinç given 10-month prison sentence

4 July 2019 – Journalist Cengiz Erdinç was given a 10-month prison sentence and fined an additional judicial fine of 16,000 Turkish Lira (around $3,000) over an article he penned for the Yurt newspaper, Reporters Without Borders reported. The 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance of Istanbul, which oversaw the trial, found Erdinç guilty of “damaging the reputation” of state bank Ziraat Bank in his article titled “Finansal kara delikler” (Financial black holes). 

The court suspended the sentence on the grounds that Erdinç “has shown remorse,” which the columnist denied after the hearing. Erdinç’s lawyer Baran Kaya said he would appeal the verdict.

Link(s): 

https://boldmedya.com/2019/07/04/gazeteciden-pisman-deyip-cezayi-erteleyen-mahkemeye-pismanlik-falan-yok/

https://twitter.com/RSF_tr/status/1146711473089130496

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

Columnist Işıl Özgentürk convicted of “inciting hatred”

4 July 2019 – Işıl Özgentürk, a columnist for Cumhuriyet daily, was given a prison sentence of 1 year and 6 months on the charge of “inciting hatred and animosity or degrading the public” by an Istanbul court, online news website Gazete Duvar reported. Özgentürk was on trial over an article she wrote for the newspaper on 13 January 2019, titled “Yeni kuşak türbanlılar” (New generation of hijab wearers).

Based on a previous deferred conviction against Özgentürk, the Istanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance ruled against suspending or deferring the sentence and argued that “the defendant may not refrain from committing the same offense again.”

Link(s): 

https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/gundem/2019/07/05/isil-ozgenturke-1-yil-6-ay-hapis-cezasi/

https://www.sozcu.com.tr/2019/gundem/isil-ozgenturkun-cezasi-belli-oldu-5214448/

https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/turkiye/isil-ozgenturke-basortululeri-asagilamaktan-hapis-cezasi/1523392 

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

UPDATE: Prosecutor seeks life imprisonment for jailed journalist Ziya Ataman

4 July 2019 – The trial of Ziya Ataman, a former reporter of the pro-Kurdish Dicle news agency (DİHA) and 18 other people resumed in the southeastern province of Şırnak, Mezopotamya news agency reported. 

Ataman, who has been in detention on remand since 11 April 2016, addressed the Şırnak 1st High Criminal Court which oversees the trial from the prison in Van where he remains jailed.

Submitting their final opinion of the case during the hearing, the prosecution asked the court to convict all nine defendants who are still under pre-trial detention, including Ataman. The prosecution accused them of being guilty of “disrupting the unity and integrity of the state,” “attempting to intentionally kill with premeditation a civil servant because of the public service he performs,” “intentionally killing with premeditation a civil a servant because of the public service he performs,” “attempting to premeditated murder,” “intentionally damaging public property through the use of explosives” and two other charges. The prosecution asked the court to convict Ataman twice of “intentionally killing with premeditation a civil servant because of the public service he performs,” and 32 times of “attempting to intentionally kill with premeditation a civil servant because of the public service he performs.” Ataman has repeatedly denied being involved with the incident, with witnesses confirming his version of the facts.

Lawyers requested additional time for the preparation of the final defense statements in response to the prosecutor’s final opinion. The court told Atman, who asked to make his defense statement in Kurdish, to have his interpreter ready at the next hearing for his defense. Ruling to keep all jailed defendants behind bars, the court adjourned the trial until 24 September 2019.

Link(s): 

http://gazetekarinca.com/2019/07/gazeteci-ziya-atamana-savunma-da-tahliye-de-yok-muebbet-isteniyor/

http://mezopotamyaajansi18.com/components/88122611/content/view/62553

http://www.etha1.com/Haberler/tutuklu-gazeteci-ataman-hakkinda-muebbet-hapis-istemi/9/14232

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

UPDATE: Trial of journalists Hürtaş and Demir adjourned until December

3 July 2019 – A trial where journalists Sibel Hürtaş and Hayri Demir are among 11 defendants charged with “inciting hatred and animosity” and “disseminating terrorism propaganda” over their social media posts about Turkey’s military operation on Syria’s Afrin resumed at the Ankara courthouse, P24 reported.

Announcing its interim ruling at the end of the hearing, the court rejected the requests to file for the annulment of TCK Article 301 and to lift the judicial control measures imposed on the defendants. The court set 3 December 2019 as the date for the next hearing.

Link(s): 

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1146339093258936320?s=20 

https://www.evrensel.net/haber/382362/gazeteci-sibel-hurtas-ve-hayri-demirin-durusmasi-aralik-ayina-ertelendi 

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

UPDATE: Özgür Gündem main trial adjourned until November

3 July 2019 – The “Özgür Gündem main trial”, where the former editors, columnists and members of the editorial advisory board of the shuttered pro-Kurdish newspaper were accused of “disrupting the unity and integrity of the state” and “membership in a terrorist group”, resumed at the 23rd High Criminal Court of Istanbul, P24 reported.

The prosecutor, who was expected to submit his final opinion on the case at this hearing, requested more time because of the vast content of a new case file submitted against one of the former editors-in-chief of the paper, Eren Keskin. Granting additional time for the preparation of the final opinion, the court adjourned the trial until 28 November 2019.

Link(s): 

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1146293811489988608?s=20 

https://t24.com.tr/haber/asli-erdogan-ve-necmiye-alpay-in-yargilandigi-ozgur-gundem-davasi-ertelendi,828854 

https://www.evrensel.net/haber/382355/ozgur-gundem-davasinda-savci-mutalaa-icin-sure-istedi

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

UPDATE: Former Zaman journalist Şirin Kabakçı’s trial adjourned until October

2 July 2019 – Şirin Kabakçı, the former Konya bureau chief of the shuttered newspaper Zaman, appeared before the 35th High Criminal Court of Istanbul on for the sixth hearing of his trial on the charge of “membership in a terrorist group”, P24 reported.

In its interim ruling at the end of the hearing, the court ruled to start the procedures for taking the testimony of a witness who asked to benefit from effective remorse provisions, and adjourned the trial until 15 October 2019.

Link(s): 

https://twitter.com/mlsaturkey/status/1146071914412220416?s=20 

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

UPDATE: Ahmet Altan given prison term over 2010 article

2 July 2019 – Jailed novelist and journalist Ahmet Altan’s trial stemming from an article he wrote in 2010 for the shuttered daily Taraf resumed on 2 July 2019 at the 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance of Istanbul Anatolian courthouse, reported Expression Interrupted outlet. 

Altan, who has been in pre-trial detention in the Silivri Prison since September 2016, addressed the court via the judicial video-conferencing system during the hearing, P24 reported. “In a developed country, no writer would stand trial in a case similar to this one,” Altan told the court in his defense statement. He added: “In politics, there are no sacred figures. If you make a figure part of day-to-day politics, then you are acknowledging that this figure is not sacred and is open to debate.”

Altan was accused of “publicly insulting the memory of Atatürk” in his article titled “CHP,” which was a critical piece about the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).

Addressing the court, Altan’s lawyer Çalıkuşu said that there was no intent of “insult” in the article and requested Altan’s acquittal. Nevertheless, the court decided to give Altan a suspended 1,5-year prison sentence.

Link(s): 

https://twitter.com/ExInt24/status/1146063090552692742?s=20 

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1566403308005-4e1c28f6-af75-3″ taxonomies=”35195″][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Turkey: Press freedom violations June 2019

04 Jul 19 | Turkey, Turkey Incident Reports

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Index on Censorship’s Monitoring and Advocating for Media Freedom project tracks press freedom violations in five countries: Azerbaijan, Belarus, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. Learn more.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”30 Incidents” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]

Five newspaper staff convicted in Özgürlükçü Demokrasi trial

28 June 2019 – The final hearing in the trial of 14 staff members of the shuttered newspaper Özgürlükçü Demokrasi on terrorism-related charges took place at the 23rd High Criminal Court of Istanbul, P24 reported.

The newspaper’s editors Mehmet Ali Çelebi and Reyhan Hacıoğlu and publisher İhsan Yaşar have been in pre-trial detention as part of the case since April 2018. All 14 defendants in the case were accused of “membership in a terrorist group,” “publishing statements by terrorist groups” and “disseminating propaganda for a terrorist group.” The pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgürlükçü Demokrasi was founded from the ashes of Özgür Gündem, which was closed on August 2016 by a state of emergency decree. But Özgürlükçü Demokrasi’s headquarters was raided by the police in March 2017 and the newspaper was also closed down shortly thereafter by decree. 

At the end of the hearing, the court convicted journalists Hicran Urun, Reyhan Hacıoğlu and İshak Yasul of “aiding a terrorist organization without being its member” and gave each a prison term of 3 years, 1 month and 15 days. Yasul was also given an additional sentence of 1 year, 6 months and 22 days on the charge of “propaganda.” Mehmet Ali Çelebi was also convicted of “aiding a terrorist organization without being its member” and given a prison sentence of 3 years and 9 months.

The court ruled to release Hacıoğlu, Çelebi and Yaşar pending the appeal process in view of the jail time they spent in pre-trial detention. However, Çelebi was not expected to be released immediately because of a previous conviction in another case.

Link(s): 

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1144570016664301568 

https://www.evrensel.net/haber/382078/ozgurlukcu-demokrasi-gazetesi-davasinda-14-yil-ceza 

https://t24.com.tr/haber/ozgurlukcu-demokrasi-gazetesi-davasinda-5-kisiye-14-yil-ceza,828162 

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

Sendika.Org editor Ali Ergin Demirhan briefly detained

28 June 2019 – Sendika.Org editor Ali Ergin Demirhan was taken into custody in Istanbul during a security check by the police, the journalist said via his Twitter account. Demirhan was taken to the Aksaray Police Station. The grounds for his arrest was an ongoing investigation on the allegation that Demirhan “insulted the president” on social media. Demirhan was released after giving his statement at the Istanbul Courthouse.

Link(s): 

http://sendika63.org/2019/06/sendika-org-editoru-ali-ergin-demirhan-serbest-birakildi-3-552999/ 

https://t24.com.tr/haber/sendika-org-editoru-ali-ergin-demirhan-serbest-birakildi,828273  

https://gazetekarinca.com/2019/06/gazeteci-ali-ergin-demirhan-serbest-birakildi/ 

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

Journalist Haydar Ergül’s trial adjourned until December

28 June 2019 – The trial of Haydar Ergül, the editor of the periodical Demokratik Modernite, and 18 others on the charge of “membership in a terrorist group” resumed at the 22nd High Criminal Court of Istanbul, P24 reported. This was the ninth hearing in the case. The court ruled to release detained defendants Eşref Yaşar, Ayşegül Turhan, Mustafa Elma, Münevver İlingi and Aysel Diler and adjourned the trial until 26 December 2019.

Link(s): 

https://medyavehukuk.org/tr/haydar-ergulun-de-yargilandigi-davada-5-tutuklu-saniga-tahliye 

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

Constitutional Court rules for rights violation in Deniz Yücel’s application

28 June 2019 – The Constitutional Court issued its judgment concerning the application on behalf of journalist Deniz Yücel, the former Turkey correspondent of the German newspaper Die Welt, who remained in pre-trial detention in Turkey for a year before being released by the trial court’s decision in February 2018.

In its judgment, dated 28 May 2019 and made public on 28 June 2019 on the court’s official website, the court’s Second Section ruled that Yücel’s pre-trial detention violated his rights to personal liberty and security, enshrined in Article 19 of the Constitution, and the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of the press, enshrined in Articles 26 and 28.

Link(s): 

https://medyascope.tv/2019/06/28/anayasa-mahkemesinden-deniz-yucel-karari-ifade-ve-basin-ozgurlugu-ozgurluk-ve-guvenlik-hakki-ihlal-edildi/ 

https://www.ntv.com.tr/turkiye/aymden-deniz-yucel-karari,A8Ilp95lxUiVlErRyXKAJw 

http://gazetekarinca.com/2019/06/aymden-gazeteci-deniz-yucel-icin-hak-ihlali-karari/ 

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

Turkish Constitutional Court issues judgments in Ahmet Altan case and 13 others

26 June 2019 – The Constitutional Court’s Plenary has issued the judgments concerning its 3 May 2019 decisions, in which it rejected the individual applications filed on behalf of jailed journalists Ahmet Altan, Nazlı Ilıcak and former Cumhuriyet staff members including Murat Sabuncu and Ahmet Şık.

All nine applications, filed in 2016 and 2017, asserted that the applicants’ arrests violated their rights to liberty and security and freedom of expression and freedom of the press.

The top court’s judgments were published on 26 June 2019 on the court’s official website. The judgments concerning the rejected applications said, in a nutshell, that “the assessments made by the investigation authorities and the decisions rendered by the courts that ruled for [the journalists’] arrests could not be deemed as ‘arbitrary and baseless’.”

In Ahmet Altan’s application, the President of the Constitutional Court Zühtü Arslan, Vice President Engin Yıldırım and three other justices disagreed with the majority opinion. All five judges were of the opinion that Altan’s arrest violated his rights to liberty and security and freedom of expression and freedom of the press.

At the end of two days of deliberations on 2 and 3 May, the Constitutional Court’s Plenary had rejected the applications of Ahmet Altan, Nazlı Ilıcak, who is Altan’s co-defendant in the “coup” case, Akın Atalay, Murat Sabuncu, Ahmet Şık and six former Cumhuriyet Foundation executives, including Önder Çelik and Musa Kart. The judgments issued on 26 June revealed that the Plenary had ruled that Ahmet Şık’s application was “inadmissible.”

The top court had found rights violations in the files of journalists Kadri Gürsel, Murat Aksoy and Ali Bulaç.

Link(s): 

https://t24.com.tr/haber/aym-nin-9-gazeteci-hakkindaki-gerekceli-kararinda-sosyal-medya-paylasimlari-da-suc-sayildi,827859 

https://www.evrensel.net/haber/381956/aymnin-gazetecilerle-ilgili-ihlal-kararlarinin-gerekceleri-belli-oldu 

https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/gundem/2019/06/26/aym-tutuklu-gazeteciler-icin-ret-gerekcesini-acikladi/ 

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

Prosecutor seeks up to 15 years of jail for Jin News reporter

26 June 2019 – The second hearing in a trial where journalist Gazeteci Beritan Canözer is accused of “membership in a terrorist group” took place at the 9th High Criminal Court of Diyarbakır, Mezopotamya Agency reported. 

Canözer and her lawyer Resul Tamur were in attendance in the courtroom. Statements by witnesses who testified against Canözer were first read out during the hearing. Addressing the court afterwards, Canözer rejected the accusations in the witness testimonies and told the court that she was a journalist and was only doing her job.

The prosecution then went on to submit their final opinion of the case, seeking up to 15 years in prison for Canözer on the charge of “membership in a terrorist group” based on testimony by four witnesses.

Accepting Canözer’s request for additional time to prepare her defense statement in response to the prosecutor’s final opinion, the court adjourned the trial until October.

Link(s): 

http://mezopotamyaajansi21.com/tum-haberler/content/view/61757?page=2 

https://www.evrensel.net/haber/381908/gazeteci-beritan-canozerin-7-5-yildan-15-yila-kadar-hapsi-isteniyor 

https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/gundem/2019/06/26/beritan-canozere-15-yila-kadar-ceza-istendi/ 

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

Ahmet Altan’s trial over 2009 column adjourned until September

25 June 2019 – The third hearing in a trial where jailed novelist and journalist Ahmet Altan is accused over a column he penned in 2009 in the now-defunct Taraf daily took place at the 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance of Istanbul’s Anatolian Courthouse, P24 reported.

Altan is accused of “attempting to influence a fair trial” and “violating the confidentiality of an investigation” in the case, filed upon a complaint by former Sakarya Chief of Police Faruk Ünsal.

Addressed the court from the Silivri Prison where he remains jailed since September 2016, Altan requested to be acquitted. In its interim ruling, the court decided to ask the 1st Civil Court of First Instance of Ankara, which initially dismissed the compensation case, for the original case file, and adjourned the trial until 5 September 2019.

Link(s): 

https://twitter.com/ExInt24/status/1143469315854929920 

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

Journalist and union activist Boltan faces “insulting the president” charge

21 June 2019 – The Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has pressed charges against Hakkı Boltan, the spokesperson of the Free Journalists Initiative (ÖGİ),online news website Gazete Karınca reported. Boltan faces trial on charges of “insulting the president” and “insulting a public official.”

The indictment accuses Boltan for his remarks in a public statement he delivered in Kurdish concerning Azadiya Welat newspaper’s former managing editor Rohat Aktaş, who was murdered in the basement of a building in Cizre in 2016. Boltan faces a combined prison term of up to 6 years on both charges.

The first hearing of Boltan’s trial will take place on 14 November 2019 at 12th Criminal Court of First Instance of Diyarbakır.

Link(s): 

http://gazetekarinca.com/2019/06/ozgur-gazeteciler-inisiyatifi-sozcusune-cumhurbaskanina-hakaret-davasi/ 

https://www.jiyanhaber.net/ozgur-gazeteciler-inisiyatifi-sozcusu-hakki-boltan-hakkinda-dava-acildi/ 

http://www.dusun-think.net/haberler/ozgur-gazeteciler-inisiyatifi-sozcusune-erdogana-hakaret-davasi/ 

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

Prosecutor seeks jail term for Yeni Yaşam managing director

20 June 2019 – Journalist Osman Akın, the responsible managing editor of the pro-Kurdish Yeni Yaşam newspaper, appeared in an Istanbul court for the first hearing of his trial on the charge of “successively disseminating terrorist propaganda.” Yeni Yaşam was launched a few months after Özgürlükçü Demokrasi was raided by the police in March 2018 and officially closed down by decree a few weeks later.  

Akın is accused over the newspaper’s coverage of the recent hunger strikes in prisons, P24 reported. He attended the hearing at the 28th High Criminal Court of Istanbul with his lawyer Özcan Kılıç. Addressing the court for his defense statement, Akın denied the allegations and requested to be acquitted.

The prosecutor requested Akın to be sentenced for “systematically disseminating propaganda” based on two news reports. Granting the defense more time to prepare their statements, the court adjourned the trial until 22 October 2019.

Link(s): 

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1141671477080657920 

https://gazetekarinca.com/2019/06/yeni-yasamin-yazi-isleri-mudurune-ilk-durusmada-ceza-talebi/ 

http://yeniyasamgazetesi1.com/yazi-isleri-mudurumuze-ilk-durusmada-ceza-talebi/ 

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

Journalist Canan Coşkun acquitted in “insult” case

20 June 2019 – Journalist Canan Coşkun appeared before the 40th Criminal Court of First Instance of Istanbul in the second hearing of her trial on the charge of “insulting the president,” P24 reported.

Coşkun, a former reporter with the Cumhuriyet daily, was on trial for a news story dated 27 November 2015, titled “Erdoğan buyurdu, gazetecilik tutuklandı” (Erdoğan ordered, journalism got arrested), in which she reported about the arrests of Cumhuriyet’s former Editor-in-Chief Can Dündar and Ankara representative Erdem Gül.

Coşkun’s lawyer Abbas Yalçın stressed that the case was filed more than two years after the news story was published and requested her acquittal.

Issuing its verdict at the end of the hearing, the court ruled for Coşkun’s acquittal.

Link(s): 

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1019619106704764929 

https://bianet.org/bianet/ifade-ozgurlugu/209557-cumhurbaskanina-hakaret-ten-yargilanan-gazeteci-canan-coskun-beraat-etti 

https://gazetekarinca.com/2019/06/gazeteci-coskun-cumhurbaskanina-hakaretten-beraat-etti/ 

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

Detained ETHA employees released

19 June 2019 – Five employees of the Etkin news agency (ETHA), who were taken into custody on 15 June as part of an investigation into a supplement issued by the weekly newspaper Atılım, have been released under judicial control measures, Mezopotamya Agency reported.

The five ETHA employees were among a group of 14 people that also included administrators from the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP), who were arrested as part of the investigation. All 14, who were taken into custody on the allegation of “inciting the public to hatred and animosity,” were brought to the Istanbul Courthouse on 19 June 2019 to give their statements to a prosecutor.

The prosecutor referred all 14 to a Criminal Judgeship of Peace after the completion of their testimonies.

The judgeship ruled to release İsminaz Temel, Havva Cuştan, Serdal Işık, Deniz Bakır, Ozancan Sarı, Gülçin Aykul and Mehmet Acettin, but imposed travel bans on all seven. Şahin Tümüklü, Ezgi Bahçeci, İlknur Çetin, Özge Doğan, Zeynep Güler Gerçek, Yaren Tuncer and Hüseyin İldan will have to report to the nearest police station once every 15 days in addition to being banned from traveling abroad.

Link(s): 

http://mezopotamyaajansi21.com/tum-haberler/content/view/61113?page=1 

https://ilerihaber.org/icerik/etha-baskininda-gozaltina-alinanlar-serbest-99506.html  

Categories: Arrest / Detention / Interrogation

Source of violation: Police / State security

Lawsuit against Ahmet Altan launched upon the complaint of late president adjourned

19 June 2019 – A lawsuit against imprisoned novelist and journalist Ahmet Altan resumed at the 10th Criminal Court of First Instance of Istanbul’s Anatolian Courthouse, P24 reported.

Filed upon the complaint of the late former President Süleyman Demirel, the lawsuit seeks the punishment of Altan for “not publishing a correction and refutation” over a 2010 article in shuttered Taraf newspaper titled “Ölüm babanın emri” (Death is the father’s command). Demirel was nicknamed “father,” especially by his supporters, during his political career. 

The court determined that some heirs of the accuser, Süleyman Demirel, were not notified about the case. Altan and his lawyer told the court that they would not make any statements at this point. The court decided to inform Demirel’s heirs before proceeding and adjourned the trial until 30 October 2019.

Link(s): 

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1141316078582321152 

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

“Taraf MGK report trial” adjourned until September

19 June 2019 – The trial of Mehmet Baransu, the former reporter of shuttered Taraf newspaper and the paper’s former responsible managing editor Murat Şevki Çoban resumed, P24 reported.

Baransu and Çoban stand accused of “acquiring documents related to the security of the state,” “exposing documents related to the security of the state” and “exposing documents of the National Intelligence Agency (MİT)” over a news report published in November 2013, titled “Gülen’i bitirme kararı 2004’te MGK’da alındı” (Decision to finish off Gülen was taken by National Security Committee in 2004). Both face possible prison terms of 25 to 52 years.

Baransu, who has been jailed pending trial for over three years, was brought from Silivri prison to attend the 19th hearing of the case overseen by the 10th High Criminal Court of Istanbul’s Anatolian Courthouse. He told the court that he was tried and acquitted on the same charge before and he requested the case to be rejected. He also argued that a recent ruling by the Supreme Court of Appeals, which dismissed a case against journalist Erdem Gül due to the expiry of the statute of limitations for pressing charges should create a precedent for the present case. 

The court decided to send the case file to the prosecution for the preparation of the final opinion and adjourned the trial until 24 September 2019.

Link(s): 

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1141256027872120832 

https://www.dha.com.tr/istanbul/baransunun-mgk-belgelerini-ifsa-etme-davasi/haber-1665622 

https://www.memurlar.net/haber/836865/baransu-nun-devletin-gizli-belgelerini-ifsa-etme-davasinda-mutalaa-istendi.html  

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

Harun Çümen remains behind bars in 3rd hearing

19 June 2019 – The third hearing in the trial of jailed journalist Harun Çümen, the former responsible managing editor of shuttered Zaman newspaper, took place at the 32nd High Criminal Court of Istanbul, P24 reported.

Çümen is one of four defendants in the case and he is charged with “membership in a terrorist group.” Two of Çümen’s co-defendants were in attendance in the courtroom while Çümen addressed the court from the Balıkesir Prison, where he has been imprisoned for more than a year.

The presiding judge asked Çümen about the digital forensics report, which claimed that messaging concerning a plan to flee the country were found on Çümen’s phone.

Çümen rejected the allegation in the report and asked to be released pending trial.

The prosecutor requested the continuation of Çümen’s detention on remand. In its interim ruling, the court ordered the continuation of Çümen’s pre-trial detention and adjourned the trial until 18 July 2019.

Link(s): 

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1141318981258813441 

https://twitter.com/Cetele_tr/status/1141334776705626112 

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

Trial of journalists arrested in Özgür Gündem raid adjourned

19 June 2019 – The trial of 22 journalists beaten and arrested during a 2016 police raid on the offices of the Özgür Gündem newspaper on the charges of “insult” and “resisting a public officer” resumed at Istanbul 5th Criminal Court of First Instance, P24 reported.

Özcan Kılıç, the lawyer representing a number of defendants, requested the return of the materials confiscated by the Beyoğlu District Police Department during the raid. Kılıç said: “During the raid both İMC TV was on air and the police camera was recording. Police have the İMC TV footage. We request you to examine that footage before you render a decision.”

Announcing its interim decision at the end of the hearing, the court ruled to inquire the Beyoğlu District Police Department about and request an urgent response concerning where the confiscated materials are currently located. DDeciding to wait for the execution of the arrest warrants issued for defendants Amine Demirkıran, Günay Aksoy, Bayram Balcı and Ersin Çaksu, the court adjourned the trial until 5 November 2019.

Link(s): 

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1141234398278410241 

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

Prosecutor seeks conviction for journalist Atakan Sönmez

18 June 2019 – Atakan Sönmez, the former news director of the online edition of Cumhuriyet newspaper, appeared before the 13th High Criminal Court of Istanbul for the third hearing of his trial on the charge of “disseminating propaganda for a terrorist organization.”

Sönmez is accused because of Cumhuriyet website’s coverage of Turkey’s 2018 military operation on Syria’s Afrin, P24 reported. He attended the hearing alongside his lawyer Buket Yazıcı.

In their final opinion of the case, which they had submitted in between courtroom hearings, the prosecution requested conviction for Sönmez on the charge of “successively disseminating terrorist propaganda.”

Sönmez’s lawyer Yazıcı said that they had just obtained the final opinion on the day of the hearing and he requested additional time for the preparation of the final defense statement. Accepting the request, the court adjourned the trial until 19 July 2019.

Link(s): 

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1140881948937785344 

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

Journalist Ozan Kaplanoğlu released on probation

15 June 2019 – Ozan Kaplanoğlu, the editor of the online news outlet Bursamuhalif.com, who was sent to prison late May, was released on probation, Mezopotamya Agency reported.

Kaplanoğlu was imprisoned after an appellate court upheld the journalist’s conviction for  “insulting the president”. He was sent to prison on 31 May to serve the remainder of the 11-month prison sentence given by the trial court. Kaplanoğlu had remained in pre-trial detention for three months in 2017 as part of the case.

Link(s): 

http://mezopotamyaajansi21.com/tum-haberler/content/view/60729?page=6 

https://gazetekarinca.com/2019/06/gazeteci-ozan-kaplanoglu-tahliye-edildi/ 

https://twitter.com/dokuz8haber/status/1139922334222041090 

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

Court lifts travel ban on Adil Demirci

15 June 2019 – The international travel ban on Turkish-German journalist Adil Demirci has been lifted, Deutsche Welle reported. 

Demirci, a Germany-based reporter and translator for the Etkin news agency (ETHA), is one of the defendants in an ongoing trial on terrorism-related charges that is overseen by an Istanbul court. He remained in pre-trial detention for 10 months as part of the trial before being released in February under a travel ban.

Link(s): 

http://gazetekarinca.com/2019/06/gazeteci-demircinin-yurt-disi-yasagi-kaldirildi/

https://www.dw.com/tr/adil-demircinin-yurt-d%C4%B1%C5%9F%C4%B1-yasa%C4%9F%C4%B1-kald%C4%B1r%C4%B1ld%C4%B1/a-49218483 

https://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/adil-demirci-darf-offenbar-die-tuerkei-verlassen-a-1272830.html 

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

ETHA offices raided by police, 7 taken into custody

15 June 2019 – Police raided the Istanbul office of the Etkin news agency (ETHA) on the grounds of a court decision ordering that “İstanbul Sokakta” (Istanbul on the streets), a recent supplement issued by the weekly newspaper Atılım, be pulled off newsstands. Five ETHA employees and two others were taken into custody during the raid.

The technical work concerning the supplement, published on the occasion of the upcoming 23 June rerun of the Istanbul mayoral election, was carried out at the ETHA office. The grounds for the publication to be pulled off newsstands is that it allegedly includes expressions that “insulted the president” and could “incite public unrest.”

The police confiscated the mobile phones of ETHA editors and reporters during the search, which lasted for over four hours. At the end of the search, police confiscated all memory cards and sim cards, the agency’s server, 11 computers, three hard drives, seven notebooks, five cameras and six mobile phones for forensic examination. Police also examined all books in the agency’s library. Access to the agency’s website http://etha10.com was also banned during the raid. 

ETHA was unable to dispatch reports for hours on Saturday because all of the agency’s digital equipment was confiscated by police.

Police then took ETHA employees İsminaz Temel, Serdal Işık, Havva Cuştan, Mehmet Acettin and Ozancan Sarı into custody. Deniz Bakır, an advisor to the central executive committee of the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP), and Gülçin Aykul, an employee of the Ceylan Publications, who were both visiting the ETHA office as guests, were also detained. All seven were taken to the Istanbul Police Department. The grounds for their detention were not disclosed. Reports said a confidentiality order was in place concerning the investigation.

All seven are expected to appear before a public prosecutor on 19 June following a four-day custody period.

Link(s): 

https://www.artigercek.com/haberler/etha-ya-polis-baskini-calisanlarimiza-ulasamiyoruz 

https://bianet.org/bianet/medya/209393-etkin-haber-ajansi-na-polis-baskini-yedi-kisi-gozaltina-alindi 

https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/gundem/2019/06/15/ethaya-polis-baskini/ 

Categories: Arrest / Detention / Interrogation

Source of violation: Police / State security

Sözcü trial adjourned until September

14 June 2019 – The trial of nine employees of the Sözcü newspaper on the charge of “knowingly and willingly aiding an armed terrorist organization without being its member” resumed at the 37th High Criminal Court of Istanbul, P24 reported.

defendants Gökmen Ulu, Mediha Olgun, Yonca Yücekaleli, Metin Yılmaz, Mustafa Çetin, Necati Doğru, Yücel Arı and defense lawyers were in attendance at the 8th hearing of the case. Veteran columnist Emin Çölaşan addressed the court from Ankara via the courtroom video-conferencing system.

Yücekaleli and Çetin requested additional time for their final defense statements in response to the prosecutor’s final opinion, submitted before the previous courtroom hearing. The rest of the defendants made their final defense statements, rejecting the accusations and requesting to be acquitted.

Lawyers representing the defendants also requested a continuance for the final defense statements. In its interim ruling, the court granted additional time and adjourned the trial until 4 September 2019.

Link(s): 

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1139428881738457088 

http://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/haber/turkiye/1438554/Sozcu_Gazetesi_davasi_ertelendi.html 

https://www.ntv.com.tr/turkiye/sozcu-gazetesi-davasi-4-eylule-ertelendi,G9cnPZQreUCOfV5QheKeGw 

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

Trial into murder of Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink resumes

13 June 2019 – The trial of intelligence officers, gendarmerie and law enforcement officials allegedly involved in the murder of Hrant Dink, the founder and editor-in-chief of the Armenian-Turkish bilingual weekly Agos, resumed on 11 June at the 14th High Criminal Court of Istanbul.

Dink was assassinated on 19 January 2007 outside the Agos weekly’s offices in Istanbul. Seventeen-year-old Ogün Samast had fired three shots at Dink’s head from the back at point blank range. 

The case into Dink’s murder has been ongoing since 2007 with many turns and twists. Five witnesses, including former Istanbul Governor and Interior Minister Muammer Güler, testified during the three-day hearing – the 93rd since the start of the trial.

Güler, one of the key names in the investigation who appeared before the court for the first time during the entire trial on 12 June, denied having received any request from intelligence units to grant Dink protection. He said that the Istanbul Police Department was investigating the topic and only one intelligence report out of 20 composed by the Trabzon Police about a plot to murder Dink was sent to the Istanbul Police.

Speaking on his meeting with dink that took place on 24 February 2004 at the Istanbul Governorship, Güler said it had no relation with the murder. 

The court decided to send camera footage outside the Agos newspaper office on the murder day to the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK), for the footage to be matched with the defendants in the case. They also decided to wait on the response to the request to have National Intelligence Organization (MİT) employees testify in the trial. The trial was adjourned until 4-5-6 September 2019.

The case is seen as a landmark trial against impunity in unsolved murders of journalist involving the state.  

Link(s): 

http://www.agos.com.tr/tr/yazi/22521/muammer-guler-dink-cinayeti-nde-ifade-verdi-istanbul-a-ham-bilgi-gelmisti 

http://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/haber/turkiye/1434985/Muammer_Guler__Hrant_Dink_davasinda_ifade_verdi__Guler_e_o_soru_soruldu.html 

https://bianet.org/english/politics/209350-dink-murder-case-former-istanbul-governor-testifies-on-his-meeting-with-dink 

Categories: Death / Killing

Source of violation: Unknown

Yeniçağ columnist Demirağ imprisoned, released on probation

13 June 2019 – Yavuz Selim Demirağ, a vocal columnist for the right-wing nationalist Yençağ newspaper, was admitted to a prison in Ankara on 13 June 2019 to serve an 11 month and 20-day sentence, daily Cumhuriyet reported. The sentence had been given on the charge of “insulting a public official” in a case filed upon a complaint by President Erdoğan. 

Demirağ’s sentence was upheld by an appellate court in April, making it final. Demirağ, who surrendered to the Ayaş Prison, was released on probation the same day around midnight.

Link(s): 

http://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/haber/turkiye/1437575/Gazeteci_Yavuz_Selim_Demirag__cezaevine_girdi.html 

https://www.yenicaggazetesi.com.tr/yavuz-selim-demirag-tahliye-edildi-238014h.htm 

https://t24.com.tr/haber/gazeteci-yavuz-selim-demirag-tahliye-edildi,825890 

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

Semiha Şahin, Pınar Gayıp released under house arrest

13 June 2019 – The fifth hearing in the trial of Etkin News Agency (ETHA) journalists Semiha Şahin and Pınar Gayıp, who have been in pre-trial detention in the Bakırköy Women’s Prison since April 2018, took place in an Istanbul court.

23rd High Criminal Court of Istanbul, ruled at the end of the hearing to release both Şahin and Gayıp on house arrest after 14 months in detention on remand, P24 reported.

Şahin and Gayıp are on trial on account of their journalistic work and their social media posts. They are accused of “membership in a terrorist group” and “disseminating propaganda for a terrorist group.”

The journalists were brought to the courtroom in handcuffs by the gendarmerie. They both requested to be released from prison and acquitted at the end of the trial. The prosecution asked the court to rule for the continuation of Şahin and Gayıp’s detention.

In its interim ruling at the end of the hearing, the panel ruled to release Şahin and Gayıp from jail but decided to place them under house arrest. The court set 15 October 2019 as the date for the next hearing.

Link(s): 

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1139133987262214144 

https://t24.com.tr/haber/gazeteciler-pinar-gayip-ve-semiha-sahin-davasi-ev-hapsiyle-tahliye-edildiler,825741 

https://bianet.org/bianet/medya/209323-gazeteciler-pinar-gayip-ve-semiha-sahin-e-ev-hapsiyle-tahliye 

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

Çağdaş Erdoğan’s trial adjourned until September

13 June 2019 – Photojournalist Çağdaş Erdoğan’s trial on terrorism-related charges resumed at the 33rd High Criminal Court of Istanbul, P24 reported. 

This was the sixth hearing in the case. Erdoğan’s lawyers requested additional time. Accepting the lawyers’ request, the court adjourned the trial until 5 September 2019.

Link(s): 

https://twitter.com/ExInt24/status/1139131848880263168 

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

Azadiya Welat employees including murdered editor-in-chief face investigation

12 June 2019 – An investigation was launched into 27 employees of the shuttered Kurdish-language daily Azadiya Welat, including Rohat Aktaş, who was the former editor-in-chief of the paper before he was murdered in Cizre in 2016, Mezopotamya Agency reported. The Diyarbakır-based newspaper entirely published in Kurdish was closed down in October 2016 by a state of emergency decree.

Other than Aktaş, the investigation also targets publisher Ramazan Ölçen, managing editor İsmail Çoban and journalists Bişar Durgut, Emrah Kelekçiler, Mehmet Çetin Altun, Melek Bozan, Rojhat Bilmez, Zafer Tüzün and Zeynel Abidin Bulut.

Six journalists and 3 former employees gave their statements at the Diyarbakır Counter-Terrorism Bureau (TEM) on the charges of “disseminating propaganda for a terrorist organization” and “terrorist organization membership.”

The lawyer representing the journalists, Resul Temur, said the police told him that they are aware Aktaş was deceased. After the death of Aktaş, ongoing trials against the journalist have been dropped.

Link(s): 

http://mezopotamyaajansi21.com/tum-haberler/content/view/60352 

https://gazetekarinca.com/2019/06/oldurulen-rohat-aktas-dahil-azadiya-welat-calisanlarina-sorusturma/ 

https://ilerihaber.org/icerik/kapatilan-gazetenin-oldurulen-yazi-isleri-muduru-hakkinda-sorusturma-99156.html 

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

Lawsuit against Çiğdem Toker filed by postal company rejected

11 June 2019 – A lawsuit filed against journalist Çiğdem Toker by Turkey’s postal service company PTT resumed at the Ankara 20th Civil Court of First Instance. The PTT was seeking TL 50,000 in non-pecuniary damages in the lawsuit over a column Toker wrote in April 2018 for the Cumhuriyet daily. 

At the hearing, the court eventually rejected the defamation case, in which the PTT claimed that Toker’s column “tarnished the company’s reputation,” P24 reported. The court ruled that the conditions requiring a lawsuit were not formed.

Link(s): 

https://twitter.com/ExInt24/status/1138382049188941825 

https://www.evrensel.net/haber/381035/cigdem-tokere-acilan-50-bin-tllik-dava-reddedildi 

https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/gundem/2019/06/11/gazeteci-cigdem-toker-hakkinda-acilan-tazminat-davasi-reddedildi/ 

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

Journalist Ayşe Düzkan released on probation

11 June 2019 – Journalist Ayşe Düzkan, who was handed down an 18-month prison sentence and jailed in January for participating in the “substitute editor-in-chief” campaign to show solidarity with the now-defunct pro-Kurdish Özgür Gündem newspaper, was released from the Eskişehir Women’s Prison.

Düzkan was released on probation after serving 130 days in jail. Düzkan’s daughter Haziran announced her mother’s release via her Twitter account.

Link(s): 

https://m.bianet.org/english/women/209293-journalist-ayse-duzkan-released 

https://www.evrensel.net/haber/381106/gazeteci-ayse-duzkan-tahliye-oldu 

https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/gundem/2019/06/12/gazeteci-ayse-duzkan-tahliye-edildi/ 

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

Prosecutor objects to appellate court decision in Seda Taşkın case

5 June 2019 – The Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has objected to the verdict rendered by the appellate court in the case of journalist Seda Taşkın, online news website Gazete Karınca reported on 5 June.

At the end of the appeal hearing of Taşkın’s trial on 15 May, the 6th Criminal Chamber of the Erzurum Regional Court of Justice had acquitted the journalist of “aiding a terrorist organization without being its member” while giving her a deferred prison sentence of 1 year, 11 months and 10 days on the charge of “disseminating propaganda for a terrorist organization.”

On 30 May, the chief public prosecutor’s office objected to the appellate court’s ruling, saying the acquittal was “in violation of the law and procedural code.”

Link(s): 

https://gazetekarinca.com/2019/06/gazeteci-seda-taskina-verilen-beraat-kararina-itiraz/

https://www.gazetefersude.com/gazeteci-seda-taskina-verilen-beraat-kararina-haber-yapip-uluslararasi-kamuoyu-olusturmak-iddiasiyla-itiraz-edildi-61039/ 

https://gazeteyolculuk.net/gazeteci-seda-taskinin-beraat-kararina-itiraz 

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

Nurcan Baysal briefly detained

3 June 2019 – Journalist and columnist Nurcan Baysal was taken into custody in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır, online news website Bianet reported. After being brought to the anti-terror branch of the Diyarbakır Police Department where she gave her statement, Baysal was released the same day. 

Baysal later announced via her Twitter account that she was detained as part of an investigation into the Democratic Society Congress (DTK) on the allegation of “terrorist group membership.”

Link(s): 

https://m.bianet.org/bianet/medya/209078-nurcan-baysal-hakikati-yazmak-ne-kadar-zormus

https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/gundem/2019/06/03/gazeteci-nurcan-baysal-serbest-birakildi/ 

https://www.birgun.net/haber-detay/nurcan-baysala-teror-orgutu-uyeligi-iddiasiyla-gozalti.html

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

Journalist Hayri Demir faces another criminal case

1 June 2019 – Journalist Hayri Demir will be standing trial in a newly opened case where he is facing between 7.5 and 18 years of imprisonment if convicted.

Demir announced the news of the new trial on 1 June via his Twitter account. He said that the accusations in the new file stemmed from his journalistic work from the years 2015 and 2016 and his social media posts — particularly one where he shared an old news piece for which he stood trial and was convicted.

Link(s): 

https://twitter.com/hayridemir_/status/1134792936347045888?s=12 

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1562241977093-4c99b139-abf4-1″ taxonomies=”8996″][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Turkey: Press freedom violations May 2019

31 May 19 | Turkey, Turkey Incident Reports

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Index on Censorship’s Monitoring and Advocating for Media Freedom project tracks press freedom violations in five countries: Azerbaijan, Belarus, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. Learn more.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”39 Incidents” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_custom_heading text=”Imprisoned journalist Ayşe Düzkan transferred to open prison” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]

Ayşe Düzkan

23 May 2019 – Imprisoned journalist Ayşe Düzkan was released from Bakırköy Women’s Prison in response to her numerous requests to be transferred to an open prison.

Düzkan was to be transferred to the women’s open prison in Eskişehir province within the next 30 hours following her release, Mezopotamya Agency reported. She will serve the remaining part of her 18-month sentence in Eskişehir.

Düzkan was imprisoned on 29 January 2019 to serve the sentence she was handed down in January 2018 for participating in 2016 in a campaign for solidarity with the now-defunct pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgür Gündem.

Link(s):

http://mezopotamyaajansi18.com/tum-haberler/content/view/58682

https://bianet.org/english/women/208790-journalist-ayse-duzkan-referred-to-eskisehir-open-prison

https://yesilgazete.org/blog/2019/05/24/ayse-duzkan-eskisehir-acik-cezaevine-sevk-edildi/

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Prosecutor seeks conviction for Gazete Karınca’s publisher in first hearing” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]23 May 2019 – Necla Demir, the former publisher of the online news website Gazete Karınca, appeared before the 33rd High Criminal Court of Istanbul for the first hearing of her trial.

Demir is accused of “systematically disseminating propaganda for a terrorist organization” for the website’s coverage of Turkey’s 2018 military operation on the Syrian city of Afrin. Demir and her lawyers Özcan Kılıç and Sercan Korkmaz were in attendance at the hearing, P24 reported.

Addressing the court for her defense statement, Demir said that the indictment against her was against law and press freedom. “The coverage of civilian deaths and the bombings of hospitals, which forms the basis of the indictment have been included in both local and international human rights reports. The coverage was considered objectively and written using journalistic terminology,” Demir said and requested her acquittal.

The prosecution then presented their final opinion of the case, requesting the court to convict Demir of “systematically disseminating terrorist propaganda.” Demir’s lawyers requested additional time to prepare their defense statements in response to the prosecutor’s final opinion.

In its interim ruling, the court granted additional time for the final defense statements and adjourned the trial until 11 July 2019.

Link(s):

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1131486132376678400

https://t24.com.tr/haber/gazete-karinca-nin-eski-imtiyaz-sahibi-necla-demir-hakkindaki-ilk-dava-goruldu,822686

https://gazetekarinca.com/2019/05/gazeteci-necla-demirin-davasi-ertelendi/

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Trial of Meşale Tolu and 26 others adjourned until October” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]

Meşale Tolu

23 May 2019 – A trial where 27 defendants, including Etkin news agency (ETHA) reporter and interpreter Meşale Tolu and her husband, Suat Çorlu, a member of the central executive board of the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP), stand accused of terrorism-related charges, resumed at the 29th High Criminal Court of Istanbul.

Çorlu and five other defendants were in attendance in the courtroom as well as defense lawyers, P24 reported. Tolu, a German national, did not attend because she is exempt from personal appearance in court.

Çorlu, whose passport was seized by Turkish authorities upon his arrival at the Istanbul Airport on a flight from Germany to attend the hearing the night before the trial, asked the court whether his passport was confiscated upon a court order.

The presiding judge said there was no travel ban issued by the court but they have found out that three other investigations against him were ongoing. His passport might be taken by authorities in connection with one of those investigations, the court said.

The court set 11 October 2019 as the date for the next hearing.

Link(s):

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1131444687603216384

https://www.br.de/nachrichten/deutschland-welt/prozess-gegen-mesale-tolu-ehemann-darf-tuerkei-nicht-verlassen,RRIXeLg

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Two files against Jin News director Safiye Alağaş merged” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]23 May 2019 – The third hearing in the trial of JinNews news director Safiye Alağaş on the charges of “disseminating propaganda for a terrorist group,” “inciting the public to hatred and animosity” and “praising crime or a criminal” took place at the 4th High Criminal Court of Diyarbakır. Jin News, a women-only and feminist news website based in the Kurdish city of Diyarbakır has faced repeated censorship and investigations over the years.

Alağaş did not attend the hearing, where she was represented by her lawyer, Pirozhan Karali, Mezopotamya Agency reported. The court merged another file against Alağaş on the “propaganda” charge, issued on 16 January 2019 by the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office of Diyarbakır, with the ongoing case. The presiding judge said the merged file still lacked the journalist’s permanent address.

Lawyer Karali requested additional time to file the permanent address notification and other lacking documents. The court granted the lawyer 20 days to complete the documents and ruled that it would issue an arrest warrant for Alağaş in order for her defense statement to be taken in the event her lawyer fails to meet the deadline.

Link(s):

http://mezopotamyaajansi18.com/tum-haberler/content/view/58659?page=2

https://gazetekarinca.com/2019/05/gazeteci-alagas-davasi-adres-bildirimi-icin-20-gunluk-sure-verildi/

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Mustafa Göktaş ordered to remain behind bars” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]23 May 2019 – The fifth hearing of the trial against Mustafa Göktaş, a former employee of the shuttered pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgürlükçü Demokrasi, took place at the 2nd High Criminal Court of Şanlıurfa.

Göktaş and his lawyer were in attendance at the hearing, Mezopotamya Agency reported. The prosecution reiterated their final opinion of the case, submitted during the previous hearing, in which they asked the court to convict Göktaş of “membership in a terrorist group” and “disseminating terrorist propaganda.”

Göktaş’s lawyer Mustafa Vefa told the court they rejected the prosecutor’s final opinion and requested his client’s release pending trial.

Göktaş requested a continuance, saying he was physically unfit to make his defense statement because he has been on a hunger strike since 1 March.

Granting Göktaş additional time for his defense statement, the court adjourned the trial until 12 September.

Link(s):

http://mezopotamyaajansi18.com/tum-haberler/content/view/58686

https://nupel.net/gazeteci-goktas-tahliye-edilmedi-24368h.html

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Ahmet Altan makes defense statement in “insulting public official” case” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]21 May 2019 – A trial in which imprisoned novelist and journalist Ahmet Altan is accused of “insulting a public official” got underway at the Anadolu 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance, P24 reported.

The case was originally launched in 2010 upon a complaint by former public prosecutor İlhan Cihaner, currently a lawmaker with the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP). The case concerns an article Altan penned in 2010, titled “Büyük Savaş Başladı” (The great battle has begun), in which he mentioned a leaked phone conversation between two justices of the Supreme Court of Appeals about Cihaner’s release from prison, a subject that had previously been covered by news media. Cihaner later withdrew his complaint, and the case was put on hold. However, it got underway again after Altan’s conviction in a case where he was accused of “insulting the president” was upheld by an appellate court in March 2018.

Addressing the court via the courtroom video-conferencing network SEGBİS, Altan said that the prosecution was trying to cover up a scandal in the judiciary that took place 10 years ago by attempting to incriminate him.

In its interim decision, the court ruled to wait for the response from the Criminal Court of First Instance of Gölbaşı concerning Cihaner and adjourned the trial until 17 September 2019.

Link(s):

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1130731056552906753

https://www.evrensel.net/haber/379839/ahmet-altan-kamu-gorevlisine-hakaret-iddiasindan-hakim-karsisindaydi

http://www.haberdar.com/gundem/ahmet-altan-savcilar-sanki-en-sacma-iddianameyi-kim-yazacak-diye-yarisiyor-h135742.html[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Court convicts 7 defendants in Özgür Gündem trial” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]21 May 2019 – The final hearing in the trial of 24 defendants including former Özgür Gündem daily editors and columnists was held at the 14th High Criminal Court of Istanbul, P24 reported.

24 defendants were standing accused of “praising the offense or the offender,” “provoking commission of offense,” and “disseminating terrorist propaganda” crimes. The pro-Kurdish newspaper was closed down by a state of emergency decree on August 2016.

Seven defendants, including the shuttered newspaper’s co-editors in chief – lawyer Eren Keskin and publisher Hüseyin Aykol – managing editor Reyhan Çapan and columnists Ayşe Batumlu and Reyhan Hacıoğlu were handed down jail sentences for the charge of “disseminating propaganda for a terrorist organization.”

Eight other defendants were acquitted for the same crime. The charges against two defendants were dropped due to the expiration of the four-month statute of limitations for pressing charges as per the Article 26/1 of Turkey’s press law and the case files of seven defendants were ruled to be overseen in a separate trial.

The panel sentenced Eren Keskin and Reyhan Çapan to 3 years and 9 months; Hüseyin Akyol to 2 years and 1 month; Hüseyin Güçlü and Tahir Temel to 1 year and 6 months; Reyhan Hacıoğlu and Ayşe Batumlu to 1 year and 3 months in jail for “disseminating terrorist propaganda.”

Hacıoğlu and Batumlu’s sentences were deferred. The sentences that were not deferred will be appealed.

Acquitting Ayşe Berktay, Celalettin Can, Cemal Bozkurt, Çetin Ulu, Emrullah Kurcan, Ergin Atabey, Nuray Özdoğan and Özlem Söyler from the charge of “disseminating terrorist propaganda,” the court decided to separate the case files of Filiz Koçali, Enver Baysal, Hasan Başak, İhsan Yorulmaz, Muzaffer Ayata, Serbest Zan and Züleyha Yılmaz, for whom the arrest warrants issued were not carried out. The defense statements of the seven defendants are yet to be heard.

The court also decided to remove the arrest warrants issued for Ruhat Kaya and Bülent Alp and drop the charge which accuses them of “propaganda” on the grounds that the four-month statute of limitations for pressing charges as per Article 26/1 of Turkey’s press law had expired.

Link(s):

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1130847861401219076

https://t24.com.tr/haber/ozgur-gundem-davasinda-karar-durusmasi-7-kisiye-15-yil-hapis-cezasi-verildi,822472

http://www.diken.com.tr/ozgur-gundem-davasinda-avukat-eren-keskin-ve-gazetecilere-ceza-yagdi/

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Assailants attack local journalist in Antalya” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]20 May 2019 – A local journalist in Antalya was targeted by assailants on 20 May. Ergin Çevik, the editor-in-chief of the Antalya-based news portal Güney Haberci, was attacked by three people in the Aksu district, daily Evrensel reported

Çevik was reportedly assaulted because he wrote about allegations of unearned income in the municipality of Aksu in a column he published in the newspaper. In the column, Çevik called on the Mayor of Aksu Halil Şahin, who was re-elected from the ranks of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) during the local elections on 31 March, to address the allegations.

Link(s):

https://www.evrensel.net/haber/379822/gazetecilere-saldirilar-suruyor-antalyada-ergin-cevik-darbedildi

https://bianet.org/english/human-rights/208674-journalist-ergin-cevik-attacked-in-antalya

https://www.haberturk.com/gazeteci-ergin-cevik-saldiriya-ugradi-2470975

Categories: Physical Assault / Injury

Source of violation: Unknown[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Journalist Mustafa Yayla sent to prison in Izmir for ‘insulting the president’” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]19 May 2019 – Mustafa Yayla, a local journalist based in the Aegean province of Aydın, was sent to prison after an appellate court upheld a previous conviction on the charge of “insulting the president,” online news website T24 reported.

Yayla had been given a prison sentence of 11 months and 20 days over his social media posts in a trial overseen by the 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance of Kuşadası. The court refused to defer his sentence or commute it to a judicial fine.

Yayla, who had recently relocated in the nearby city of Izmir, was placed in the Torbalı Prison.

Link(s):

https://www.gercekgundem.com/medya/93771/gazeteci-mustafa-yayla-erdogana-hakaretten-cezaevine-girdi

https://t24.com.tr/haber/gazeteci-mustafa-yayla-cumhurbaskani-na-hakaretten-cezaevine-girdi,822068

https://gazetekarinca.com/2019/05/gerekcesi-cumhurbaskanina-hakaret-gazeteci-mustafa-yayla-cezaevine-girdi/

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial + Government / State Agency / Public official(s) / Political party[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Journalist İdris Demirel taken into custody in Iğdır” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]17 May 2019 – Local journalist İdris Demirel was taken in custody during house raids by the Gendarmerie in the northeastern province of Iğdır, pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya news agency reported. Demirel was arrested alongside local politician Kemal Çakmak and a citizen named Deniz Kaynar.

Reports said Demirel, Çakmak and Kaynar were arrested as part of an investigation into a demonstration that involved human shields, which took place four years ago.

Link(s):

http://mezopotamyaajansi19.com/tum-haberler/content/view/57971

http://www.haberdar.com/gundem/igdir-da-biri-gazeteci-3-kisi-gozaltina-alindi-h135254.html

http://www.igdirdogusgazetesi.com/haber/2819/17/igdirda-biri-gazeteci-3-kisi-gozaltina-alindiyok

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Trial of journalist Mehmet Çakmakçı adjourned until November” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]17 May 2019 – The trial of journalist Mehmet Çakmakçı on the charge of “membership in a terrorist group” resumed on 17 May at the 10th High Criminal Court of Diyarbakır, online news website Gazete Karınca reported. Çakmakçı, who uses the pen name Şiyar Dicle, was jailed pending trial in 2017 and was released at the end of the first courtroom hearing of his trial.

The court ruled to wait for the response from the Council of Forensic Medicine concerning the forensic examination of audio tapes in the indictment against Çakmakçı and adjourned the trial until 8 November 2019.

Link(s):

https://gazetekarinca.com/2019/05/gazeteci-mehmet-cakmakcinin-durusmasi-ertelendi/

https://www.gercekgundem.com/medya/93406/mehmet-cakmakcinin-durusmasi-goruldu

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Local journalist İdris Özyol beaten, hospitalized in Antalya” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]17 May 2019 – Local journalist İdris Özyol was assaulted by a group of three unidentified assailants in the coastal city of Antalya. The veteran journalist was hospitalized following the attack, which took place during evening hours of 15 May 2019 in front of the offices of the local newspaper Akdeniz’de Yeni Yüzyıl, where he works.

The assailants were arrested on 17 May. Özyol said one of his attackers, whom he identified as Taner Canatek, was the driver of a prominent local politician from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which has allied with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) during the general and presidential elections in 2018 and the local elections in March 2019. Canatek worked for the AKP candidate during the local election campaign, Özyol claimed. Journalist associations condemned the attack.

Link(s):

https://www.evrensel.net/haber/379501/antalyada-gazeteci-idris-ozyol-saldiriya-ugradi

https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/gundem/2019/05/15/gazeteci-idris-ozyol-saldiriya-ugradi/

https://ahvalnews.com/journalism/turkish-journalist-beaten-after-critical-commentary

Categories: Physical Assault / Injury

Source of violation: Unknown[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Trial of Özgür Gündem editors and politician Hatip Dicle adjourned” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]16 May 2019 – A trial where journalists Hüseyin Aykol, Zana Kaya and İnan Kızılkaya — former co-editors-in-chief and managing editor of the pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgür Gündem — and Kurdish politician Hatip Dicle stand accused for the news stories and articles published in the newspaper, resumed at the 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance of Istanbul. Özgür Gündem was closed down by a state of emergency decree in August 2016.

The four defendants are accused of “publicly degrading the government, the judiciary or the police force” and “publicly degrading the Turkish nation, the Turkish Republic and the Parliament” under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code.

None of the defendants were in attendance at the hearing, where they were represented by their lawyer Özcan Kılıç, P24 reported.

In its interim ruling at the end of the hearing, the court decided to wait for the execution of the arrest warrant against Hatip Dicle and adjourned the trial until 10 October 2019.

Link(s):

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1128927471863291904

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Public Prosecutor seeks criminal investigation against Ahmet Şık over his defense statements during trial” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]16 May 2019 – The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has filed for the lifting of the parliamentary immunity of People’s Democratic Party (HDP) Istanbul MP Ahmet Şık, seeking a criminal investigation over two separate allegations. Şık, a renowned investigative journalist, was sentenced to 7,5 years in prison pending appeal in the trial against the executive and staff of the daily Cumhuriyet in 2018.

The Prosecutor’s Office accuses Şık of “insulting the Turkish Republic, the government and the judiciary” as per Article 301 of the Turkish Criminal Code based on his remarks in his defense statement in the “Cumhuriyet trial,” online news website T24 reported. The vocal journalist’s statement  had a wide echo in the national political and public debate.

The Prosecutor’s Office is separately accusing Şık of “insulting the president” based on two complaints filed with the Presidency Communication Center (CİMER).

Link(s):

https://t24.com.tr/haber/ahmet-sik-hakkinda-iki-ayri-fezleke-duzenlendi-cumhuriyet-davasindaki-savunma-kanit-sayildi,821560

https://www.evrensel.net/haber/379513/hdp-milletvekili-ahmet-sik-hakkinda-iki-ayri-fezleke-duzenlendi

https://tr.sputniknews.com/turkiye/201905161039066278-ahmet-sik-hakkinda-iki-ayri-fezleke-duzenlendi/

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Imprisoned journalist İdris Yılmaz faces new charges” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]16 May 2019 – Imprisoned journalist İdris Yılmaz is facing terrorism-related charges in a new indictment, pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya news agency reported. Yılmaz, a journalist based in the eastern province of Van, is currently imprisoned in the Elazığ No. 1 Maximum Security Prison, serving a combined prison term of nearly 10 years he has been given in various trials over his journalistic work.

The new indictment, prepared in light of a witness testimony, accuses Yılmaz of “membership in a terrorist group” and “disseminating propaganda for a terrorist group.” The journalist’s social media posts are held as evidence for the “propaganda” charge.

Link(s):

http://mezopotamyaajansi19.com/tum-haberler/content/view/57816?page=2

https://www.evrensel.net/haber/379554/tutuklu-gazeteci-idris-yilmaz-hakkinda-bir-dava-daha-acildi

http://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/haber/turkiye/1396389/Gazeteci_Yilmaz_a_bir_dava_daha.html

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Seda Taşkın acquitted of one charge but convicted of “propaganda”” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]15 May 2019 – The appellate court overseeing Mezopotamya news agency (MA) reporter Seda Taşkın’s appeal has overturned the trial court’s October 2018 verdict that sentenced the journalist to a total of 7.5 years in prison on two separate charges.

Taşkın addressed the 6th Criminal Chamber of the Erzurum Regional Court of Justice from the Ankara courthouse via the courtroom video-conferencing system, P24 reported.

Taşkın told the court that she was put on trial as a result of her journalistic work. “Journalism is not a crime,” Taşkın added.

At the end of the second appeal hearing of Taşkın’s trial, held on 15 May 2019, the 6th Criminal Chamber of the Erzurum Regional Court of Justice acquitted the journalist of “aiding a terrorist organization without being its member” while giving her a prison sentence of 1 year, 11 months and 10 days on the charge of “disseminating propaganda for a terrorist organization.” The court deferred the sentence.

Link(s):

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1128541621090496512

https://www.evrensel.net/haber/379422/gazeteci-seda-taskina-verilen-1-yil-11-ay-hapis-cezasi-ertelendi

https://gazetekarinca.com/2019/05/gazeteci-seda-taskina-hem-ceza-hem-beraat/

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Court drops charge against journalist Erdem Gül in intel trucks case” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]15 May 2019 – The final hearing of Cumhuriyet daily’s former Ankara representative Erdem Gül and opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Enis Berberoğlu where they were accused of “aiding a terrorist organization without being its member,” was held at the 14th High Criminal Court of Istanbul. The trial is related to the publication of footages allegedly showing weapons bound to Syria in trucks belonging to the Turkish intelligence agency MİT by the newspaper Cumhuriyet on May 2014.

Berberoğlu, a former journalist and editor-in-chief of the mainstream newspaper Hürriyet, was accused of providing the footages to the newspaper.

In its verdict on Gül, the court ruled that the the four-month statute of limitations for pressing charges as per the Turkish press law had expired and dismissed the case, P24 reported.

Concerning Berberoğlu’s file, the court ruled that there was no need to render a separate verdict on the charge of “aiding a terrorist organization without being its member” on the grounds of Berberoğlu’s previous conviction in another trial in relation to the same news report for “disclosing confidential information pertaining to the security of the state.” The court also lifted the international travel ban on Berberoğlu.

The retrial of Can Dündar, Cumhuriyet’s then editor-in-chief, on the charge of “disclosing confidential information for espionage purposes” over the same coverage in the newspaper also resumed on 15 May at the 14th High Criminal Court of Istanbul. The court decided to wait for the response from German judicial authorities concerning Turkey’s extradition request for Dündar and adjourned the trial until 31 October 2019.

Link(s):

https://expressioninterrupted.com/tr/mit-tirlari-davasinda-erdem-gul-hakkindaki-suclama-dusuruldu/

https://medyascope.tv/2019/05/15/mit-tirlari-erdem-gul-hakkindaki-dava-dusuruldu/

https://tr.sputniknews.com/turkiye/201905151039059191-mit-tirlari-davasinda-erdem-gul-ve-enis-berberoglu-karari/

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Reporter Soner Karabulut briefly detained” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]15 May 2019 – Journalist Soner Karabulut, a reporter for the pro-Kurdish online newspaper Gazete Fersude, was taken into custody on 14 May in Istanbul during house raids by the police, the website reported. The investigation was targeting members of the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP), the report said.

Karabulut and five others were referred to the Istanbul Courthouse on 15 May. The court released Karabulut and four ESP members under judicial control measures.

Link(s):

https://www.gazetefersude.com/istanbulda-ev-baskinlari-gazetemiz-muhabiri-soner-karabulut-dahil-4-kisi-gozaltinda-58248/

https://ilerihaber.org/icerik/gazete-fersude-muhabiri-soner-karabulut-gozaltina-alindi-97784.html

https://tihv.org.tr/16-mayis-2019-gunluk-insan-haklari-raporu/

Categories: Arrest / Detention / Interrogation

Source of violation: Police / State security[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Evrensel editor-in-chief’s trial on ‘insulting the president’ charge adjourned” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]14 May 2019 – The second hearing in the trial of journalist Fatih Polat, the editor-in-chief of Evrensel daily, on the charge of “insulting the president” took place at the Bakırköy 31st Criminal Court of First Instance.

Polat is standing trial over his article titled “Erdoğan ailesiyle ilgili bu iddialara muhatapları ne diyor?” (What do those addressed say about these allegations concerning the Erdoğan family?), published in the newspaper on 28 May 2017.

An Istanbul court had ordered the column be removed from the Evrensel website. The newspaper’s lawyers objected to the court order, but their objection was rejected and the article was subsequently removed from the website. After the removal of the article, lawyers representing President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan filed a lawsuit against Polat for the column.

Lawyer Devrim Avcı submitted to the court the original news report published in the website theblacksea.eu, that was the source of Polat’s article, P24 reported. Avcı added that the news report was still accessible online.

Avcı also submitted to the court an expert opinion concerning Polat’s case that was penned by the London-based human rights organization Article 19. Avcı told the court that the expert opinion by Article 19 demonstrated that Craig Shaw’s news report, which Polat quoted in its entirety in his article, was nominated for the British Journalism Awards in England and the European Press Prize.

After accepting the documents submitted by the defense lawyers, the court ruled to send a memo to the Journalists’ Association of Turkey (TGC) and the Turkish Journalists Union (TGS), seeking their opinion about the website that was the source for Polat’s article and whether Craig Shaw, the author of the original article, is a journalist or not. The court then adjourned the trial until 17 September 2019.

Link(s):

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1128189606502047744

https://www.evrensel.net/haber/379364/gazeteci-fatih-polat-malta-belgeleri-nedeniyle-hakim-karsisina-cikti

https://gazetekarinca.com/2019/05/gazeteci-fatih-polatin-durusmasi-ertelendi/

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences + Censorship (i)

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Journalists Zeynep Kuray, İrfan Tunççelik spend three days in custody for covering demonstrations” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]13 May 2019 – Journalist Zeynep Kuray and İrfan Tunççelik, a reporter for the Mezopotamya news agency (MA), were both taken into custody as they were covering demonstrations in Istanbul aimed at raising awareness of ongoing hunger strikes in Turkey’s prisons.

Kuray was arrested while she was covering a demonstration in the Spice Bazaar in the historic Eminönü quarter while Tunççelik was arrested as he was covering a demonstration in front of the Bakırköy Prison, online news website Artı Gerçek reported.

Both journalists were brought to the Istanbul Courthouse on 13 May. The prosecutor requested their imprisonment pending trial. The court released both journalists under judicial control measures.

Link(s):

https://www.artigercek.com/haberler/gazeteciler-zeynep-kuray-ve-irfan-tunccelik-gozaltina-alindi

https://gazetekarinca.com/2019/05/gazeteciler-zeynep-kuray-ve-irfan-tunccelik-serbest-birakildi/

https://bianet.org/english/freedom-of-expression/208453-journalists-zeynep-kuray-and-irfan-tunccelik-released-on-probation

Categories: Arrest / Detention / Interrogation

Source of violation: Police / State security[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Assaillants attack prominent columnist in front of his house” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]13 May 2019 – Journalist Yavuz Selim Demirağ, a prominent columnist for the nationalist Yeniçağ newspaper, suffered serious injuries from an attack in front of his house in Ankara.

The attack took place late in the evening hours of 10 May, as Demirağ was returning home after hosting a political show on a private TV broadcaster. The assailants, a group of seven men, fled the scene in a car after beating up Demirağ using baseball bats.

Demirağ was hospitalized by his relatives. Six people who were arrested during the week in connection with the attack were released after giving their statements before a prosecutor on 13 May.

Link(s):

https://www.yenicaggazetesi.com.tr/yavuz-selim-demiraga-alcak-saldiri-233723h.htm

https://www.ntv.com.tr/turkiye/gazeteci-yavuz-selim-demirag-evinin-onunde-saldiriya-ugradi,7o-CIobc0kidXDs5hikGCw

https://www.yenicaggazetesi.com.tr/savciliktan-yavuz-selim-demiraga-saldiranlar-hakkinda-zoraki-islem-234370h.htm

https://www.yenicaggazetesi.com.tr/spor-aleti-51931yy.htm

Categories: Physical Assault / Injury

Source of violation: Unknown[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Journalist Canan Coşkun briefly detained over unpaid legal fine” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]11 May 2019 – Journalist Canan Coşkun was taken into custody late 10 May 2019 in Istanbul based on an arrest warrant, which came up during a police security check, DW reported.

It later became clear that the warrant had been issued because of an overdue legal fine of TL 12,600 handed down by the Istanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance in a case where Coşkun was convicted of “insulting a public official” over a news story she penned in 2015 for the Cumhuriyet daily. The newspaper had failed to pay the amount after the ruling became definitive.

Coşkun spent the night at the police station. She was released the next day after the overdue fine was paid.

Link(s):

https://www.dw.com/tr/gazeteci-canan-co%C5%9Fkun-serbest-b%C4%B1rak%C4%B1ld%C4%B1/a-48700121

https://medyascope.tv/2019/05/11/canan-coskun-yazdi-nezarethaneden-izlenimler/

https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/gundem/2019/05/11/canan-coskun-serbest-birakildi/

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”“KCK press trial” adjourned until October” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]9 May 2019 – The 16th hearing of the “KCK Press Trial,” where a total of 46 journalists and other media workers stand accused of “membership in a terrorist group” and “terrorism propaganda,” took place at the 3rd High Criminal Court of Istanbul.

None of the defendants were in attendance at the hearing and were represented by their lawyers, P24 reported.

The presiding judge announced during the hearing that a separate case file about one of the defendants, journalist Yüksel Genç, overseen by the 14th High Criminal Court of Istanbul, was sent to the court with the request to merge the two files. However, the trial court rejected the request.

The court then adjourned the trial until 22 October 2019.

Link(s):

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1126429796798431232

https://www.evrensel.net/haber/379064/kck-basin-davasi-goruldu-gazeteci-yuksel-gence-yeni-dava

https://gazetekarinca.com/2019/05/kck-basin-davasi-gazeteci-yuksel-gence-yeni-dava-acilmis-bir-sonraki-durusma-ekimde/[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Court announces deferred judgment about jailed journalist Yetkin Yıldız” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]9 May 2019 – A court in Ankara announced a judgment against jailed journalist Yetkin Yıldız that had been deferred, P24 reported.

The 35th Criminal Court of First Instance of Ankara had convicted Yıldız of “insult” in a case that had been filed in 2010 by a judge. The accusation stemmed from a news story published online in the news website Stratejik Boyut, where Yıldız was the chief editor. The 10-month sentence Yıldız was given at the time had been deferred by five years.

Yıldız later stood trial in a separate case on the charges of “insult” and “publicly inciting crime” over an article posted online on the news portal Aktif Haber, where he was chief editor during his five-year probation. Yıldız was also convicted in that case, overseen by the 1st Criminal Court of First Instance of Silivri.

Since he “committed a similar offense” during his five-year probation, the 35th Criminal Court of First Instance of Ankara announced its earlier judgment at the hearing on 9 May. The court suspended Yıldız’s sentence by 1 year.

Yıldız is currently imprisoned in the Silivri Prison in Istanbul. He was sentenced in 2018 to 7 years and 6 months in prison on the charge of “membership in a terrorist organization” as part of a major media trial where columnists Murat Aksoy and Atilla Taş were among his 25 co-defendants.

Link(s):

https://expressioninterrupted.com/tr/turkiyede-basin-ve-ifade-ozgurlugu-207/

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Trial of 7 journalists over 2016 news story adjourned until October” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]8 May 2019 – A trial where seven journalists and one other defendant are charged with “making those involved in combating terrorism a target” resumed at the 9th High Criminal Court of Diyarbakır.

The case was launched after a complaint from senior gendarmerie commander Maj. Gen. Musa Çitil, who was cited in the news report, published in February 2016 by the pro-Kurdish Dicle News Agency (DİHA). The agency was closed down by a state of emergency decree in October 2016.

The defendants include Ömer Çelik, who was the news editor at DİHA at the time, DİHA reporters Çağdaş Kaplan, Hamza Gündüz and Selman Çiçek, journalist Abdulvahap Taş as well as the responsible editor and publisher of the pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgür gündem, İnan Kızılkaya and Kemal Sancılı. Çiçek is additionally charged with “disseminating propaganda for a terrorist organization.” An eighth defendant, who is at large, is also cited in the indictment.

Sancılı, who is currently imprisoned in Edirne, addressed the court via the courtroom video-conferencing network. The rest of the defendants were not in attendance and were instead represented by their lawyers, P24 reported. This was the third hearing in the case.

In its interim ruling, the court decided to wait for the execution of the arrest warrant in place for the eighth defendant, Selim Günenç, and adjourned the trial until 2 October 2019.

Link(s):

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1126007620534448129

https://gazetekarinca.com/2019/05/musa-citilin-sikayetiyle-haklarinda-dava-acilan-yedi-gazetecinin-durusmasi-ertelendi-2/

https://tihv.org.tr/09-mayis-2019-gunluk-insan-haklari-raporu/

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Özgür Gündem trial adjourned” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]8 May 2019 – The trial of 23 former pro-Kurdish Özgür Gündem newspaper’s editors and columnists, including Eren Keskin, Hüseyin Aykol, Reyhan Çapan, Filiz Koçali, Ayşe Berktay, Nuray Özdoğan, Celalettin Can, Ayşe Batumlu and Reyhan Hacıoğlu, resumed at the 14th High Criminal Court of Istanbul. The 23 defendants are accused of “praising crime and criminals,” “inciting crime,” and “disseminating propaganda for a terrorist group.” The newspaper was closed down on August 2016 by a state of emergency decree.

The prosecution reiterated their final opinion of the case, submitted to the court on 26 October 2017. Lawyer Özcan Kılıç, who represents part of the defendants in the case, requested additional time for the final defense statements since the court has rejected his request at the previous hearing to merge this case with another ongoing trial against the newspaper. The court granted additional time for the defense statements and adjourned the trial until 21 May 2019 when the verdict is expected to be announced.

Link(s):

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1126074473092923392

https://t24.com.tr/haber/ozgur-gundem-davasi-21-mayis-a-ertelendi,820315

https://www.evrensel.net/haber/378988/ozgur-gundem-davasi-21-mayisa-ertelendi

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Prosecutor seeks conviction for jailed journalist Mehmet Gündem” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]8 May 2019 – The fifth hearing in the trial of jailed journalist and columnist Mehmet Gündem on the charge of “terrorist group membership” took place at the 35th High Criminal Court of Istanbul.

Gündem, who is in pre-trial detention in the Silivri Prison, was brought to the courtroom under the supervision of gendarmerie officers, P24 reported.

The prosecutor sought for Gündem’s conviction on the charge of “membership in a terrorist group” according to the final opinion submitted to the court in between courtroom hearings.

Gündem’s lawyers requested additional time to prepare their final defense statements and asked for the journalist’s release from prison pending trial.

Ruling for the continuation of Gündem’s pre-trial detention, the court granted additional time to the defense and adjourned the trial until 29 May.

Link(s):

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1126053682955603968

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Constitutional court finds ‘no violations of rights’ in jailed journalists’ files” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]3 May 2019 – Turkey’s Constitutional Court on 3 May rejected the individual application of jailed novelist and journalist Ahmet Altan, finding no rights violations in his file that had been pending before the court since November 2016. The court also rejected the application of Nazlı Ilıcak, Altan’s co-defendant in the “coup” case.

Altan and Ilıcak’s files were among 10 individual applications by journalists reviewed by the top court’s Plenary over two days, on 2 and 3 May.

The other applications were those filed on behalf of former Cumhuriyet staff members Murat Sabuncu, Ahmet Şık, Akın Atalay, Kadri Gürsel, Bülent Utku and Önder Çelik, former Zaman columnist Ali Bulaç and journalist Murat Aksoy.

The Plenary concluded at the end of the morning session of Friday’s deliberations that there was “no rights violations” in Altan’s file, while it ruled in favor of Bulaç. Rendering its decision concerning Ilıcak’s application on Friday afternoon, the Constitutional Court rejected her application through a unanimous vote.

On Thursday, at the end of the first day of deliberations, the court ruled that Kadri Gürsel and Murat Aksoy’s rights to personal liberty and security had been violated, while it rejected the applications of former Cumhuriyet staffers Akın Atalay, Murat Sabuncu, Önder Çelik, Ahmet Şık and Bülent Utku. Both Gürsel and Aksoy, whose demands were accepted by the top court, have served their entire prison sentences. The others, however, have all prison time remaining on their sentence. Çelik and Utku, were recently sent back to prison to serve the remaining part of their sentences after those were uphold by an appellate court. Prison sentences against Atalay, Sabuncu, Şık being over 5 years will be further reviewed by the Supreme Court of Appeals.

The court rendered all decisions except for the one concerning Ilıcak’s file through a majority vote.

Link(s):

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/05/top-turkey-court-rejects-jailed-journalist-appeals-190503181911161.html

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkeys-top-court-rejects-individual-appeals-of-sentenced-journalists-143145

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/turkeys-highest-court-says-journalists-rights-violated

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”P24 Founding President Hasan Cemal convicted of “propaganda” over 2015 column” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]7 May 2019 – P24’s founding president and T24 columnist Hasan Cemal was given a prison sentence of 3 months and 22 days on the charge of “disseminating propaganda for a terrorist organization” on 7 May 2019.

Cemal was standing trial over an article he penned in 2015, titled “Silvan’dan: Bizi acılara ve ölümlere o kadar alıştırdılar ki…” (Silvan: They’ve inured us to pain and death).

This was the third hearing in the trial, overseen by the Istanbul 36th High Criminal Court. Hasan Cemal and his lawyer Fikret İlkiz were in attendance, P24 reported.

Addressing the court for his defense statement, Hasan Cemal rejected the accusation and asked to be acquitted.

After hearing the defense statements by Cemal and his lawyer, the court went on to issue its verdict, convicting Cemal of “disseminating propaganda for a terrorist group” and giving him 1 year, 6 months and 22 days in prison. The panel ruled for the sentence to be deducted from a previous sentence Cemal was given on the same charge by the 22th High Criminal Court of Istanbul. As a result, the court gave Cemal a prison sentence of 3 months and 22 days, which it then commuted to a judicial fine of TL 3,360.

Link(s):

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1125761094323245058

https://t24.com.tr/haber/hasan-cemal-75-yasinda-50-yillik-bir-gazeteci-olarak-teror-propagandasi-iddiasiyla-yargilanmam-turkiye-deki-buyuk-cokusun-gostergesi,820114

http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gundem/teror-orgutu-propagandasindan-ceza-41206770

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Journalist Cansu Pişkin given 10-month prison term for news story” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]7 May 2019 – Journalist Cansu Pişkin was handed down a prison sentence on the charge of “marking the identity of a state official assigned in the fight against terrorism as a target” over a news report published in 2018 in the Evrensel newspaper.

Pişkin and her lawyers Levent Pişkin, Devrim Avcı and Mustafa Söğütlü were in attendance at the 36th High Criminal Court of Istanbul for the third hearing of her trial, P24 reported. The hearing was monitored by representatives from Reporters Without Borders (RSF), International Press Institute (IPI), Article 19 and a number of academics and journalists.

Pişkin addressed the court and reiterated her previous defense statement saying that she did not write the news story for which she is accused with the intent to commit a crime but to inform the public.

Following the completion of the defense statements, the court issued its verdict, finding Pişkin guilty of “marking the identity of a state official assigned in the fight against terrorism as a target.” The court sentenced her to 10 months in prison and deferred the sentence.

A group of students from Istanbul’s Boğaziçi University were imprisoned in late March 2018 for staging an anti-war protest. In her news story published on 5 April 2018, Pişkin reported that the prosecutor assigned to the investigation concerning the Boğaziçi students on 3 April, the day on which the students were referred to court, had claimed in a previous indictment that the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) was a political party “operating under the guidance of a terrorist group.”

Link(s):

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1125734034636722177

https://medyascope.tv/2019/05/07/gazeteci-cansu-piskine-10-ay-hapis-cezasi-verildi/

https://www.evrensel.net/haber/378928/gazeteci-cansu-piskine-10-ay-hapis-cezasi

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Prosecution seeks sentence for photojournalist Çağdaş Erdoğan on “propaganda” charge” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]7 May 2019 – The fifth hearing of the trial of photojournalist Çağdaş Erdoğan on the charges of “membership in a terrorist group” and “disseminating propaganda for a terrorist organization” took place at the 33rd High Criminal Court of Istanbul.

Representatives from Article 19, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the International Press Institute (IPI) monitored the hearing, where Erdoğan and his lawyer Figen Albuga Çalıkuşu were in attendance, P24 reported.

The prosecution submitted their final opinion of the case during the hearing, seeking conviction for Erdoğan on the charge of “propaganda” as per Article 7/2 of Turkey’s anti-terror law (TMK). The prosecution requested Erdoğan’s acquittal for the “membership” charge.

Lawyer Çalıkuşu requested a continuance for Erdoğan’s final defense statement. Granting additional time for the defense, the court adjourned the trial until 13 June 2019.

Link(s):

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1125726809637703682

https://tihv.org.tr/08-mayis-2019-gunluk-insan-haklari-raporu/

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Kibriye Evren ordered to remain behind bars” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]7 May 2019 – The trial of jailed journalist Kibriye Evren on terrorism-related charges resumed at the 5th High Criminal Court of Diyarbakır.

Evren, who is jailed in the Diyarbakır Prison, and has been on a hunger strike since 16 December 2018, did not attend the hearing, P24 reported. She was represented by her lawyers Pirozhan Karali and Resul Temur.The prosecution said they reiterated their final opinion of the case, submitted to the court on 16 April. The prosecutor also requested the continuation of Evren’s pre-trial detention.

Evren’s lawyer Temur requested additional time for Evren to make her final defense statement in person in the courtroom. He also requested his client’s release pending trial. In their interim decision, the court ruled to keep Evren in pre-trial detention and adjourned the trial until 18 July 2019.

Link(s):

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1125652925823508480

http://gazetekarinca.com/2019/05/aclik-grevindeki-gazeteci-kibriye-evrene-yine-tahliye-yok/

https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/gundem/2019/05/07/gazeteci-evren-tahliye-edilmedi/

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Appellate court drops jail sentence given to Pelin Ünker in Paradise Papers case” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]6 May 2019 – An appellate court has overturned a jail sentence handed down in January to former Cumhuriyet daily reporter Pelin Ünker, Medyascope reported.

Ünker was given a 13-month prison sentence by the 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance of Istanbul in a lawsuit filed by former Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım and his two sons over Ünker’s reporting on the “Paradise Papers” leaks.

According to the report, the appellate court ruled on 19 April for the conviction against Ünker in the case filed by Bülent and Erkam Yıldırım to be dropped because the four-month statute of limitations for pressing charges as per Article 26/1 of Turkey’s press law had expired.

The appellate court upheld the legal fine Ünker was given on the charge of “insulting a public official.” However, it ruled that the compensation Ünker was ordered to pay should be TL 7,080 instead of TL 8,660.

Link(s):

https://medyascope.tv/2019/05/06/paradise-papers-davasi-istinaf-mahkemesi-gazeteci-pelin-unkerin-hapis-cezasini-bozdu/

https://t24.com.tr/haber/istinaf-mahkemesi-gazeteci-pelin-unker-in-hapis-cezasini-bozdu,819926

http://bianet.org/bianet/ifade-ozgurlugu/208208-istinaf-mahkemesi-pelin-unker-in-hapis-cezasini-bozdu-para-cezasini-onadi

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Mezopotamya Agency reporter Barış Polat released under judicial control measures” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]5 May 2019 – Barış Polat, an intern reporter for the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya news agency, who was taken into custody on 3 May as he was covering a news story at the Şanlıurfa Courthouse, was released from custody on 5 May. Polat was taken to the courthouse following his questioning at the anti-terror branch of the Şanlıurfa Police Department. Polat was released under judicial control measures by the court he was referred to.

Link(s):

http://mezopotamyaajansi16.com/tum-haberler/content/view/56576?page=8

https://ozgurmanset.net/muhabirimiz-baris-polat-serbest-birakildi/

Categories: Arrest / Detention / Interrogation

Source of violation: Police / State security[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Constitutional court finds ‘no violations of rights’ in jailed journalists’ files” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]3 May 2019 – Turkey’s Constitutional Court on 3 May rejected the individual application of jailed novelist and journalist Ahmet Altan, finding no rights violations in his file that had been pending before the court since November 2016. The court also rejected the application of Nazlı Ilıcak, Altan’s co-defendant in the “coup” case.

Altan and Ilıcak’s files were among 10 individual applications by journalists reviewed by the top court’s Plenary over two days, on 2 and 3 May.

The other applications were those filed on behalf of former Cumhuriyet staff members Murat Sabuncu, Ahmet Şık, Akın Atalay, Kadri Gürsel, Bülent Utku and Önder Çelik, former Zaman columnist Ali Bulaç and journalist Murat Aksoy.

The Plenary concluded at the end of the morning session of Friday’s deliberations that there was “no rights violations” in Altan’s file, while it ruled in favor of Bulaç. Rendering its decision concerning Ilıcak’s application on Friday afternoon, the Constitutional Court rejected her application through a unanimous vote.

On Thursday, at the end of the first day of deliberations, the court ruled that Kadri Gürsel and Murat Aksoy’s rights to personal liberty and security had been violated, while it rejected the applications of former Cumhuriyet staffers Akın Atalay, Murat Sabuncu, Önder Çelik, Ahmet Şık and Bülent Utku. Both Gürsel and Aksoy, whose demands were accepted by the top court, have served their entire prison sentences. The others, however, have all prison time remaining on their sentence. Çelik and Utku, were recently sent back to prison to serve the remaining part of their sentences after those were uphold by an appellate court. Prison sentences against Atalay, Sabuncu, Şık being over 5 years will be further reviewed by the Supreme Court of Appeals.

The court rendered all decisions except for the one concerning Ilıcak’s file through a majority vote.

Link(s):

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/05/top-turkey-court-rejects-jailed-journalist-appeals-190503181911161.html

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkeys-top-court-rejects-individual-appeals-of-sentenced-journalists-143145

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/turkeys-highest-court-says-journalists-rights-violated

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Mezopotamya news agency reporter Barış Polat taken into custody” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]3 May 2019 – Barış Polat, an intern reporter for the Mezopotamya news agency, was taken into custody on 3 May at the entrance of the Şanlıurfa Courthouse, where he was covering a news story. Polat was detained on the grounds that he was taking photographs inside the courthouse, the agency reported.

Link(s):

http://mezopotamyaajansi16.com/tum-haberler/content/view/56367

https://gazetekarinca.com/2019/05/gazeteci-baris-polat-gozaltinda/

https://t24.com.tr/haber/mezopotamya-ajansi-muhabiri-baris-polat-gozaltina-alindi,819514

Categories: Arrest / Detention / Interrogation

Source of violation: Police / State security[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Constitutional court rejects Ziya Ataman’s application” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]2 May 2019 – Turkey’s Constitutional Court ruled on the individual application of jailed reporter Ziya Ataman, online news website Gazete Karınca reported. The court rejected Ataman’s application, the report said, finding his claim that his right to personal liberty and security to be “ill-founded” and his claim that his right to a fair trial was violated inadmissible because “all legal remedies have not been exhausted.

Ataman, a reported for the pro-Kurdish Dicle News Agency (DİHA), which was closed down by a state of emergency decree in 2016, has been jailed for more than three years. The trial against him is ongoing in the southeastern province of Şırnak.

Link(s):

http://gazetekarinca.com/2019/05/aymden-tutuklu-gazeteci-ataman-icin-yapilan-basvuruya-ret/

https://bianet.org/bianet/ifade-ozgurlugu/208071-anayasa-mahkemesi-gazeteci-ziya-ataman-in-basvurusunu-reddetti

https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/gundem/2019/05/02/anayasa-mahkemesi-gazeteci-ziya-atamanin-basvurusunu-reddetti/

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Former TV10 staff members’ trial adjourned” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]2 May 2019 – The second hearing of the trial of two former employees of the shuttered TV station TV10, camera operator Kemal Demir and staff member Kemal Karagöz, took place in Istanbul. Both Demir and Karagöz are charged with “membership in a terrorist group” in the case, overseen by the 28th High Criminal Court of Istanbul.

Demir and Karagöz were taken into custody in December 2017. At the end of the detention period, Demir was jailed pending trial while Karagöz was released under judicial control measures. The first hearing of their trial took place on 3 July 2018, but the 28th High Criminal Court of Istanbul ruled at the end of the hearing to send the case file to a criminal court in the southern city of Mersin on the grounds that it had no jurisdiction over the case. However, the Mersin court also ruled that it had no jurisdiction and the case file ended up at the Supreme Court of Appeals, which ruled that the original trial court had jurisdiction. The 28th High Criminal Court of Istanbul, reevaluating the case file after the Supreme Court of Appeals’ decision, ruled on 8 February 2019 for Demir’s release pending trial.

The second hearing, where both Demir and Karagöz were in attendance, was monitored by Rebecca Harms, a German Member of the European Parliament (MEP), and International Press Institute (IPI).

In its interim ruling at the end of the hearing, the court ruled for the continuation of Demir’s travel ban while lifting the judicial control measure imposed on Karagöz, P24 reported. The court granted both defendants exemption from personal appearance in the courtroom and adjourned the trial until 10 September 2019.

Link(s):

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1123847116370083841

https://www.evrensel.net/haber/378639/tv10-calisanlarinin-yargilandigi-dava-10-eylule-ertelendi

https://www.pirha.net/tv10-calisanlari-demir-ve-karagozun-durusmasi-10-eylule-ertelendi-video-170575.html/02/05/2019/

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”“Bakur trial” adjourned until July” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]2 May 2019 – A trial where journalist Ertuğrul Mavioğlu and filmmaker Çayan Demirel are charged with “propaganda” for a documentary they co-directed titled Bakur (“Nort”h in Kurdish) resumed in the southeastern city of Batman.

Both Mavioğlu and Demirel, as well as their lawyers, were in attendance at the sixth hearing in the trial overseen by the 2nd High Criminal Court of Batman. MPs Ayşe Acar Başaran and Ahmet Şık, representatives from the Association of Documentary Filmmakers of Turkey, journalists from the Altyazı film magazine, academics, filmmakers and stage actors were among those who came to Kurdish city to observe the hearing and lend support to Mavioğlu and Demirel.

At the beginning of the hearing, the judges announced that it had recently come to their attention that a separate criminal investigation into Mavioğlu on the charge of “propaganda” was under way in Ankara, P24 reported.

In their interim decision, the court ruled to inquire of the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office about the investigation into Mavioğlu and ask for a copy of the investigation file. The court also decided to grant additional time to the defendants for their statements in response to the prosecutor’s final opinion of the case and adjourned the trial until 18 July, when a verdict is expected.

Link(s):

https://twitter.com/P24DavaTakip/status/1123902975804678144

http://susma24.com/bakur-davasi-18-temmuza-ertelendi/

https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/gundem/2019/05/02/bakur-durusmasi-temmuza-kaldi/

Categories: Criminal Charges / Fines / Sentences

Source of violation: Court / Judicial[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1560520560729-052775e3-ee0d-1″ taxonomies=”8996″][/vc_column][/vc_row]