Prosecutor demands prison sentence for journalists Coşkun, Uğur and Açar

What happened?

On June 16, 2013, Berkin Elvan was hospitalized due to grave head injuries after the police intervention in the district of Okmeydanı in İstanbul. When he was admitted to the Okmeydanı Research Hospital, his heart had reportedly stopped already.

Suffering from a brain hemorrhage, Elvan went through at least five surgeries. On January 5, 2014, Elvan turned 15 in his coma. He died on March 11, 269 days after being shot.

The prosecutor investigating the incident changed six times. It was determined thanks to the camera footage that two suspect police officers had been seen and one of them caused the death of Elvan. The investigation was concluded on December 7, 2016.

On the grounds of their news about the investigation, a lawsuit was filed against journalists Canan Caşkun, Ali Açar and Can Uğur on charge of "turning a counterterrorism official into a target" as per the Article 6 of the Anti-Terror Law. The news in dispute was published by Cumhuriyet newspaper with the title "Police Officer Allegedly Shot Berkin Elvan Didn't Remember His Place of Duty" and by BirGün newspaper with the title "The Reason for Confidentiality Order on Berkin Investigation: Lest His Reputation Be Damaged".

While the lawsuit was filed three years after the incident, on December 5, 2019, the indictment alleged that the name of one of the police officers mentioned in the Berkin Elvan investigation file was revealed and the related officer was pointed as a target for the left organizations threatening the officer.

Journalists face 1 to 3 years in prison.