Police officers rear-handcuffing former bianet reporter fined 9,000 lira payable in 10 months
Verdict was reached in the trial where three police officers, K.A., N.D., and Y.Ş. are tried, who attempted to detain bianet reporter (between 2021-2018) Beyza Kural with handcuffs while she was covering news in 2015.
During the hearing at the 35th Criminal Court of First Instance in İstanbul, defendant police officer K.A. attended, while N.D. and Y.Ş. did not appear. Beyza Kural also attended the hearing with her lawyer, Meriç Eyüboğlu.
Kural stated in the hearing that her complaint is ongoing and requested the punishment of the defendant police officers. Lawyer Eyüboğlu reiterated her request for the defendants to provide additional defense statements as per the Constitutional Court (AYM) decision. She then mentioned that two of the defendants had previously been given deferred prison sentences, stating, "Their criminal records should prevent a conviction from being formed again in your court, and a punishment should be imposed accordingly."
After Eyüboğlu, defendant police officer K.A. stated, "There is no evidence against me in the file. I was not the one who carried out the detention procedure, and I demand my acquittal."
Lawyers representing N.D. and Y.Ş. requested the acquittal of their clients. In the event of a different opinion, they accepted the deferral of the pronouncement of the verdict (HAGB).
The prosecutor, reiterating the indictment given during the hearing on February 15, requested the punishment of the defendant police officers for "violating the freedom of work and labor" and "blocking work activities by abusing the authority provided by public duty."
The court announced its decision, imposing a fine of 9,000 lira, equivalent to 450 days, 20 lira for a day, on all three police officers for "violating the freedom of work and labor" (Article 117 of the Turkish Penal Code), payable in 10 monthly installments. Additionally, the court deferred the sentence.
The court did not render a separate verdict for the offenses of "intentional injury" and "preventing the exercise of freedom of thought and opinion." Instead, it decided to file a complaint with the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office for these crimes.
RSF urges Turkey to end police violence against journalists
"A lifetime not enough to punish violations committed by the police"
In the initial trial that concluded in December 2022, the court had sentenced N.D. to a fine of 6,000 TL for the same charges and deferred the sentence. However, K.A. and Y.Ş. were not granted deferred sentences because they had received a penalty in another case with the same offense.
RSF Turkey Representative and bianet Media Monitoring Rapporteur Erol Önderoğlu commented, "The case regarding the assault and attempted arrest Beyza Kural faced while covering the YÖK protest has lasted for 9 years. Today, the attempted arrest ended with a deferred fine, while the prosecution of the violence was left to the prosecutor's office. A lifetime wouldn't be enough to punish the violations committed by the police."
BIA Media Monitoring Reports
(HA/PE)