Journalist on trial ‘with the lights on’

* Photo: Gazete Yolculuk

Click to read the article in Turkish

Buse Söğütlü, a reporter for Gazete Yolculuk news website, is standing trial for criticizing Heavy Penal Court Judge Akın Gürlek in a tweet.

The journalist had her first hearing at the İstanbul 23rd Heavy Penal Court today (October 13). After the court board heard her defense, it has sent her case file to the prosecutor for the opinion as to the accusations. The next hearing will be held on December 30.

Having testified at court, journalist Buse Söğütlü also referred to the "Lights are on" tweet of a Constitutional Court member, which has sparked debates.

Engin Yıldırım, a member of the top court, tweeted last night, "Lights are on" with a picture of the Constitutional Court building attached. Shortly afterwards, the Ministry of Interior also posted a tweet with a picture of its building, saying, "Our lights are never off." In response to this debate, some social media users have commented, "We rest in lights."

CLICK - Court member's tweet leads to new row with government

Against this backdrop, journalist Söğütlü gave this as an example to describe the current prestige of the law in the country.

He handed down the controversial ruling

Speaking to bianet about the trial, journalist Söğütlü's attorney Erman Öztürk has indicated that judge Akın Gürlek, who is a plaintiff in the trial, has not recognized the Constitutional Court decision and handed down the controversial ruling [about Enis Berberoğlu]:

"Akın Gürlek is a judge that ruled for heavy prison sentences in several lawsuits, including the ones closely followed by the public, such as the Progressive Lawyers Association (ÇHD) case and the trial of [main opposition CHP İstanbul Chair] Canan Kaftancıoğlu.

"My client Söğütlü drew attention to this in her defense, noting that the provisions as to the due procedure of law were not obeyed in these trials, the right to make a defense was restricted and even attorneys were ordered out of the courtroom. The tweet which is the subject matter of the trial today was also posted following the ÇHD trial."

'What judgement would Führer give?

In her testimony at court, Buse Söğütlü indicated that she had referred to the following remarks of a judge in Nazi Germany:

""There is no judicial independence in the face of National Socialism. Before every judgement you hand down, you ask yourself this, 'What judgement would Führer give if he were in my shoes?'"

Söğütlü also underlined, "I am a journalist and the duty of a journalist is to tell the truths to the public and express the criticisms."

'If Hitler left his grave and...'

The indictment lodged against Buse Söğütlü demands that the journalist be penalized on charge of "turning a counterterrorism official into a target" as per the Article 6/1 of the Anti-Terror Law (TMK).

Söğütlü is facing this charge over her following tweet: "If Hitler left his grave, came here and sat in Akın Gürlek's seat, he would more or less utter the same sentences with him. Professional ethics and everything aside, a person should have the gravity of his seat."

'They want to make the court Gürlek-esque'

Attorney Öztürk has said:

"We, as her attorneys, said that there was no crime and no matter in dispute. While it was a file that should have ended in non-prosecution, a lawsuit has been filed as the aggrieved party is Akın Gürlek. We said it to judges as well; as the prosecutor could not give a decision of non-prosecution because the complainant is Akın Gürlek, he had to lodge an indictment.

"The judiciary of Turkey does not recognize the Constitutional Court ruling, the executive 'puts the Constitutional Court in its place.' They want to turn the Constitutional Court into Akın Gürlek. The judiciary had never been independent; however, formal independence is now also no more. In such an atmosphere, they want to make everyone have the same opinion. This was what our client criticized in her tweet."

About Akın Gürlek

Akın Gürlek, the Presiding Judge of the 14th Heavy Penal Court, was mentioned in the application made to the Constitutional Court about the ÇHD trial. The related petition referred to him as follows:

"Presiding Judge Akın Gürlek was on duty in the investigation and prosecution phases of the other files related to the trial of the applicants. As the Judge of a Penal Court of Peace, he took part in the investigation where B.E. gave a statement as a confessor to benefit from effective repentance in the applicants' file, in B.E.'s arrest and the prosecution of B.E. as a confessor while he was the Presiding Judge of the İstanbul 26th Heavy Penal Court.

"As the Presiding Judge of the İstanbul 26th Heavy Penal Court, Akın Gürlek also sentenced Cumhuriyet newspaper reporter Canan Coşkun to 2 years, 3 months in prison on charge of 'turning a counterrorism official into a target' by making news on B.E. (...) In another trial where İ.Ö., who was a witness in the lawyers' case, was a defendant, Gürlek took his testimony."

In this trial,Gürlek sentenced ÇHD lawyers to over 159 years in prison.

He was also the Presiding Judge of the court which sentenced CHP İstanbul Chair Canan Kaftancıoğlu to 9 years, 8 months in prison and gave prison sentences to Sözcü journalists on charge of "willingly and knowingly aiding the FETÖ," which is held responsible for the coup attempt in 2016.

Gürlek ruled that former Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş should be sentenced to 4 years, 8 months and former HDP MP Sırrı Süreyya Önder to 3 years, 6 months in prison.

He also gave prison sentences to current Chair of Turkish Medical Association (TTB) Şebnem Korur Fincancı and Gençay Gürsoy in the trial of Academics for Peace, who faced terror charges for having signed the declaration "We will not be a party to this crime."

He has recently defied the Constitutional Court ruling of "right violation" for Enis Berberoğlu and ruled that "there is no need for retrial."

He is currently the Presiding Judge of the court that hears the Hrant Dink murder case filed into the assassination of the journalist. (AS/SD)