Prosecutor Demands 15 Years in Prison for Journalist Deniz Yücel

Announcing his opinion as to the accusations, the prosecutor has demanded up to 15 years, 3 months in prison for journalist Deniz Yücel on charges of “propagandizing for a terrorist organization” and “inciting the public to enmity and hatred.”

İstanbul

Prosecutor Demands 15 Years in Prison for Journalist Deniz Yücel

* Photo: Roberto Bulgrin (Deniz Yücel / Twitter)

Click to read the article in Turkish

The trial of Deniz Yücel, daily Die Welt's former Turkey reporter, continued at the İstanbul 32nd Heavy Penal Court today (February 13).

Charged with "propagandizing for a terrorist organization" and "inciting the public to enmity and hatred", Deniz Yücel was facing 4 years to 18 years in prison and previously served one year in prison on the offenses charged.

The prosecutor of the case announced his opinion as to the accusations today and demanded that the journalist be sentenced to up to 15 years, 3 months in prison. The prosecutor further alleged that Yücel "propagandized for the Kurdistan Workers Party/Kurdistan Communities Union (PKK/KCK)" in his multiple articles published on Die Welt.

While the prosecutor demanded 2 years to 13 years prison on charge of "propagandizing for a terrorist organization", he demanded 1 year to 3 years in prison on charge of "inciting the public to enmity and hatred."

Request for a new criminal complaint

In the prosecutor's opinion, it was also demanded that a new criminal complaint be filed against Deniz Yücel on charge of "insulting the President" as he referred to President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as "putschist" in the titled of his article published on November 6, 2016.

Veysel Ok, the attorney of Yücel, requested additional time to prepare his defense as to the accusations. The court accepted the request of Ok.

The next hearing will be held on April 2, 2020.

International Press Institute (IPI) Executive Director Barbara Trionfi, Reporters without Borders (RSF) Turkey representative Erol Önderoğlu and representatives from the German Consulate in Istanbul were among those who monitored Deniz Yücel's sixth hearing in İstanbul today.

What happened?

Kept in detention in İstanbul Security Directorate for 13 days, Die Welt newspaper reporter to Turkey Deniz Yücel was brought to İstanbul Justice Palace in Çağlayan on February 27 by İstanbul Organized Crimes Department units.

According to the report by BirGün daily, Yücel was questioned about his interview with Cemil Bayık, one of the founders of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and council member of Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) in 2015, reports about President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Yüksekova and Cizre.

As the part of the same operation, Diken news site editor Tunca Öğreten, Dicle News Diyarbakır Bureau Chief editor Ömer Çelik and BirGün daily newspaper Executive Official Mahir Kanaat were arrested on January 18, 2017. Ömer Çelik was released on October 24, Kanaat and Öğreten were released on December 6, 2017.

Along with Öğreten, Çelik and Kanat, DİHA reporter Metin Yoksu, Yolculuk Newspaper Chief Editor Eray Sargın and ETHA Executive Official Derya Okatan who were detained on December 25, 2016, were released.

Covering house raids that were conducted on December 25, pro-government Sabah daily newspaper reported that Deniz Yücel's name was included as part of the investigation.

President and Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said:

"This man [Deniz Yılmaz] is a terrorist, not journalists and unfortunately the German government lumps my ministers together with this terrorist. The problem lies here.

"German Chancellor Angela Merkel told me 'We would be glad if you free him'. I told her he is not a journalist but a terrorist. Deniz Yücel hid in the German Consulate General. This man is a terrorist, not a journalist".

Of the other arrestees, Çelik was released in the first and Tunca was released in the second hearing. Yücel was released on February 16 following 367 days in detention.

(HA/SD)

* Source: MLSA and bianet archive