Court Ruled for Continuation of Journalists’ Arrest in the Absence of Their Attorneys

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Arrested for reporting on the funeral of a National Intelligence Organization (MİT) officer killed in Libya, Odatv news website Editor-in-Chief Barış Pehlivan, Odatv News Director Barış Terkoğlu, reporter Hülya Kılınç, daily Yeni Yaşam Editor-in-Chief Ferhat Çelik, Yeni Yaşam Managing Editor Aydın Keser and daily Yeniçağ columnist Murat Ağırel previously objected to their pre-trial detention, but the court has rejected these objections.

It has been understood that the court ruled for the continuation of their arrest in the absence of their attorneys. The allegation was raised by Celal Ülgen, an attorney for the arrested journalists.

Posting a series of messages on Twitter, Ülgen has said that the objections in question were discussed by the İstanbul 2nd Penal Court of Peace at the weekend, but rather than the attorneys with letters of attorney, other lawyers were summoned for the journalists from the bar association. The court ruled for the "continuation of arrest" in that hearing.

Attorney Ülgen: They have messed it up

Celal Ülgen has shared the following messages on Twitter:

"They have really messed it up... The Minister of Justice... The Chair of Union of Turkish Bar Association (TBB)... Hear our voice: The arrest of our four clients Terkoğlu, Pehlivan, Ağırel and Kılınç was examined in our absence by summoning other lawyers from the bar. You are right if you ask what difference it would have made if we had been there.

"Barış Terkoğlu, Barış Pehlivan, Murat Ağırel ad Hülya Kılınç had almost eight attorneys with a letter of attorney. It is always possible to get in contact with these attorneys. It is odd that lawyers were summoned from the bar iassociation n spite of this and the Code of Criminal Procedure (CMK) lawyers assumed the duty of review despite knowing us.

"Date: May 2, Sunday - The İstanbul 2nd Penal Court of Peace hurriedly reviewed the arrest and gave a ruling contrary to the law. Last time, the attorneys were bypassed and our clients were reviewed via the Audio and Visual Information System (SEGBİS). This time, both we and our clients have been bypassed.

"Isn't it a bit odd that, instead of summoning the lawyers with letters of attorney in the file, the hard path was chosen and lawyers were summoned from the bar association?

"When lawyer Gizay Dulkadir informed [me] about it, I was in utter shock. We did not see it even in the judiciary of the FETÖ [Fethullahist Terrorist Organization]. With lawyer Y.K. Akalın, lawyer H. Ersöz, lawyer F. Selvi, lawyer O. Cingil, lawyer İ.Z. Göktaş and lawyer S. Güne, we have been excluded from justice. Why? Why? Why? And by what right?"

Attorney Kılıç: It is a pirate-like ruling

Speaking to Mezopotamya Agency (MA) about the issue, Özcan Kılıç, the attorney of Keser and Çelik, have also briefly stated the following:

"The lawsuit has been filed, its court is known and the principal court is now examining the file. We had requests from the 34th Heavy Penal Court. But, while the court was examining the file, the prosecutor appealed to the Penal Court of Peace in a pirate-like manner to ensure the continuation of arrest, appointed other lawyers from the bar and none of these lawyers knows the file at all. And these lawyers, as if they had known the file, took down the statements of defense in the minutes and a ruling was given for the continuation of arrest. It is a pirate-like ruling.

"It shows how stuck the government is in this file. They insistently ruled for the continuation of arrest in a hurry with attorneys, by acting as if they had appointed attorneys. I dropped by the court and they did this while the 34th Heavy Penal Court had been examining the file for a week. It was a method that was not followed before. We now see that as well.

"They themselves say in the ruling that as it was urgent and it was at the weekend, they did not have the opportunity to call the attorneys. They insistently arranged it for the weekend. Normally, reviews of arrest are done on the 8th of the month, but they did it on the 2nd."

What happened?

Odatv news website News Director Barış Terkoğlu and reporter Hülya Kılınç were detained from their homes in İstanbul and Manisa in early morning hours on March 4. Kılınç was taken to İstanbul for the investigation.

Terkoğlu and Kılınç were arrested by the İstanbul 4th Penal Judgeship of Peace in the evening on the same day.

On March 5, the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) imposed an access block on Odatv.

Summoned to depose as part of the same investigation on March 5, Odatv Editor-in-Chief Barış Pehlivan was also arrested on March 6.

On the same day, daily Yeni Yaşam Editor-in-Chief Ferhat Çelik and Managing Editor Aydın Keser were referred to court for arrest as part of the same investigation. They were released on probation by the court.

Next day, on March 7, daily Yeniçağ columnist Murat Ağırel was also referred to court for his arrest after deposing at the prosecutor's office. He was released on probation by the court.

Upon the objection of the prosecutor's office, Ferhat Çelik, Aydın Keser and Murat Ağırel were arrested on March 8.

On April 24, an indictment was issued against arrested journalists Barış Terkoğlu, Hülya Kılınç, Ferhat Çelik, Aydın Keser and Murat Ağırel as well as journalist Erk Acarer, who is currently abroad, and E.E., a Press Unit member from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Akhisar District Municipality in Manisa. (EKN/SD)