Journalist Pişkin's Case: All Requests Rejected, No Ruling Made

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First hearing of the case against daily Evrensel reporter Cansu Pişkin for "making a public officer a target for terrorist organizations," has been held at the 36th Heavy Penal Court in the İstanbul Courthouse.

Pişkin is being tried for her story titled, "Special Prosecutor for Boğaziçi Students." The story is about the arrest of Boğaziçi students who demanded peace during the Turkish Armed Forces' military operations in Syria's Afrin in 2018.

In the bill of indictment, the Public Prosecutor's Office requests a prison term up to 3 years for Pişkin for mentioning the name of the prosecutor who conducted the investigation against Boğaziçi University students in her story.

Dismissal request rejected

Pişkin's attorney Devrim Avcı-Kurt requested the dismissal of the case on the ground that the case was not filed within four months, exceeding the legal time limit for press offenses.

The Prosecutor's Office asserted in its opinion as to the accusations that the mentioned story was also published on the website of the newspaper, hence cannot be considered within the scope of press offenses and demanded the attorney Avcı-Kurt's request be rejected.

The court rejected Avcı-Kurt's request.

Non-jurisdiction request rejected

Speaking after the decision, attorney Mustafa Söğütlü referred to Article 27 of the Press Law:

"For cases opened involving crimes committed by printed matter or other crimes envisaged in this law, and those involving major penalties shall be tried by the High Criminal Court, with others to be handled by Courts of First Instance.

If there is more than one department in a Heavy Penal Court or a Court of First Instance in one area, the cases shall be handled by Court No. 2."

The Prosecutor's Office said in its opinion that the trial should be held at a Heavy Penal Court that is authorized to try cases that are related to terror offenses, upon the related law.

The court rejected attorney Söğütlü's request.

Hearing adjourned to March 25

Being asked for her defense, journalist Pişkin said that she has a busy schedule and requested time to prepare his defense.

Announcing its interim verdict, the court decided that the case shall be adjourned to March 25, 4.30 p.m. It also warned Pişkin to be present at the next hearing. (HA/VK)