Şener Acquitted in 2 Cases - Şık in Court as Plaintiff

As reported on 1 November, journalist Nedim Şener was acquitted of allegations of insult and breach of privacy in two separate trials. Şener is being incarcerated at the Silivri Prison (west of Istanbul) for 244 days. He was arrested on 6 March 2011in the scope of the Oda TV trial.

According to CNN Türk, Şener was sued on 23 October 2010 on the grounds of a news article that was based on a letter of an informant regarding bribery involving a certain exhibition company.

The article mentioned the judges at the Bakırköy (Istanbul) Courthouse with their nicknames. One of the judges filed a criminal complaint thereupon and claimed that one of the nicknames in the article was used for him.

Şener was facing imprisonment of up to six years in total before he was acquitted of all charges in both trials.

Ahmet Şık in court as plaintiff

Journalist Ahmet Şık who was arrested together with his colleague Şener in March this year went to court on Tuesday (1 November). This time, the journalist who is also being detained at the Silvri prison appeared as the plaintiff.

Şık opened a trial against Abdullah Küçükkaytekin, general publications director of the medyasavar internet site, by reason of alleged insult. The hearing was held at the Çağlayan Courthouse (Istanbul) on Tuesday.

The medyasavar website published various allegations against Şık after the raid on Oda TV that lead to the journalist's arrest. It was said that Şık had been affiliated with the leftist militant Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C) which supposedly had a considerable influence on the Istanbul press in those years when Şık was working for the Cumhuriyet newspaper as a police reporter. According to medyasavar, it was Şık's duty to provoke the police during demonstrations and in his writings.

The first hearing of the case was attended by Şık and his lawyers Tora Pekin and Can Atalay as well as defendant Küçükaytekin.

Defendant Küçükaytekin rejected all charges and stated that it was his aim to convey information. He put forward that his information had mainly been based on the 19 February issue of the Hürriyet newspaper.

The court ruled to acquire a copy of the Hürriyet newspaper dated 19 February 2011 for the coming hearing. The court furthermore accepted to exempt the defendant from the hearing. The trial was postponed to 10 January 2012. (EKN/VK)