Soylu appeals against Council of State ruling halting ban on audio, video recording

* Photo: Selin Arutan

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While he seemed to welcome the related Council of State ruling, Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu has apparently submitted a petition against the high court ruling which has halted the execution of the circular issued by the Directorate General of Security and banning journalists and citizens from audio and visual recordings during public incidents and protests.

Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu previously defined it as a "right sensitivity" that the Council of State halted the execution of the circular.

As it has turned out, the Directorate of Security and Ministry of Interior have appealed against the high court ruling by submitting a petition.

As reported by Uğur Şahin from daily BirGün, the Directorate General of Security appealed against the ruling on December 16, 2021. The Directorate has requested the removal of the related ruling in a petition addressed to the Council of State's Plenary Session of the Chambers for Administrative Cases and submitted to the 10th Chamber of the Council of State.

'It is not true that press freedom is restricted'

The petition submitted to the Council of State has argued that "the circular foresees no provisions restricting the Constitution or the freedom of information", arguing that "what was aimed with the circular was just to express that the personnel have authority and rights in the event of actions that prevent the police officers from fulfilling their duties."

According to the petition, the arguments that the circular had provisions restricting press freedom "are not truthful".

The petition of the Security Directorate has reiterated that "without a doubt, the offenses of 'violation of privacy' and 'recording of personal data' are constituted when the police, who intervene in an incident in a public place by using their authority, are prevented; when they are interfered with by being filmed with a mobile phone; when [the incidents] are filmed at a very close range with the aim of preventing the police from fulfilling their duties and when audio and visual recordings are taken in the absence of a social incident or an action that may not be the subject of a crime."

Further in the petition, it has been argued that "in incidents where the police intervene, the audio and visual recordings taken by the 3rd parties that are not a party to the incident may turn the police into a target."

"In the modern world, it is seen that besides the increasing information sharing on social media, the obtained data may be changed or directed and easily served to crime groups," the petition has added.

"For this reason, even if the intervention of the police who intervene in an incident as required by their duty is proportionate, even a visual recording showing them while using a weapon may be served to the masses in such a way to cause a public outrage," the petition has said.

Against this backdrop, the Directorate General of Security has demanded the removal of the stay of execution of the circular.

The same petition

Almost the same expressions have been used in the petition sent by the Directorate General of Legal Services of the Interior Ministry to the 10th Chamber of the Council of State. In the petition dated December 17, the removal of the stay of execution has been requested.

What happened?

The Directorate General of Security, on April 27, issued a circular that banned recording voices and images at demonstrations. The Progressive Lawyers Association (ÇHD) İstanbul Branch revealed the circular issued by the signature of Director General of Security Mehmet Aktaş.

With this circular, the police were instructed to prevent the people capturing the images or voices of police officers during demonstrations and to take legal action against the related people.

The circular argued that posting the recorded voices and images of police and civilians "violated the privacy of private life", adding that capturing voices and images prevented the fulfillment of duty as well.

The circular sparked harsh criticisms of journalists and journalism organizations as well as opposition politicians. A lawsuit was filed against the circular, demanding the halt of its execution and annulment.

On November 11, 2021, the 10th Chamber of the Council of State unanimously halted the execution of the police circular banning journalists and citizens from audio and video recording during public incidents.

In its ruling, the Council of State stressed that the related circular restricted the freedom of communication and press, concluding that fundamental rights and freedoms should only be restricted by law.

The Council underlined that "imposing restrictions on fundamental freedoms and rights as per a regulation in the form of a circular of the general directorate of security did not comply with the Constitution." (HA/SD)