Journalist Deniz Yücel fined over ‘dumbest prosecutor of Çağlayan’ quote

"Freedom for all imprisoned journalists in Turkey!"

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Having served a year behind bars in Turkey, journalist Deniz Yücel has been sentenced to pay a judicial fine on the grounds that he has allegedly insulted Hasan Yılmaz, the former İstanbul Deputy Chief Public Prosecutor and the current Vice Minister of Justice. 

Put on trial for quoting the words "the dumbest prosecutor of Çağlayan [Courthouse]" from another person, Yücel, the former Turkey correspondent of Germany's Die Welt newspaper, has been sentenced to 7,080 Turkish Lira (TRY) as a judicial fine for "insulting a public official".

As reported by the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA), the seventh hearing of the trial was held at the İstanbul 24th Criminal Court of First Instance yesterday (February 8). The hearing in the Çağlayan Courthouse started approximately three hours late.

Journalist Deniz Yücel, who lives abroad, did not attend the hearing and was represented by his lawyers Veysel Ok and Erselan Aktan.

The prosecutor was the first to take the floor.

He reiterated his final opinion, which he submitted to the court on November 30, 2021 and in which he requested that Yücel be sentenced for insulting complainant Hasan Yılmaz, arguing that Yücel's social media post "offended the honor and the dignity of the complainant."

'As a public figure, he must endure harsh criticism'

Lawyer Veysel Ok took the floor after the prosecutor and began his statement by saying, "Your Honor, before you pass down your judgment today, we must tell you who Deniz Yücel is and why he is on trial." The judge, however, interrupted lawyer Ok at this point and said, "You told us about him before, stick to the indictment for your defense."

Continuing his statement, lawyer Ok stated that all the facts about the case must be heard for a fair judgment. Ok, proceeded to explain the injustices Yücel had to suffer starting from the police custody.

Presenting some of the other indictments prepared by prosecutor Hasan Yılmaz to the court, lawyer Veysel Ok said:

"The person who prepared the indictment of our client Deniz Yücel is also the person who prepared the indictment on Osman Kavala. It is because of this indictment that now Turkey faces the possibility of being expelled from the Council of Europe, of which it is the founder."

Lawyer Ok concluded his defense by urging the court to take into account the element of unjust provocation. Ok demanded Yücel's acquittal arguing that the elements of the alleged crime did not occur.

Lawyer Erselan Aktan began his defense by referring to the Constitutional Court and the ECtHR rulings on Deniz Yücel.

Aktan, recalling the past record of Yılmaz as a prosecutor, argued that since he took part in popular investigations and prosecutions, he can be considered a public figure and thus he must endure harsh criticism even if it is shocking, as it is established by the Constitutional Court.

Continuing his defense, lawyer Aktan said:

"The thing which the complainant took as an insult is the relaying of someone else's words and the dictionary does not define the word 'salak' (dumb) as an insult. Considering the ordeal which Deniz Yücel was put through because of the complainant, the social media post in question did not even intend to insult the complainant. We demand that Yücel be acquitted since the elements of the alleged crime did not occur."

After a brief recess for deliberation, the court announced its judgment. The court imposed a judicial fine on Deniz Yücel for "insulting a public official" and ordered the journalist to pay 7,080 Turkish Lira (TRY). The court has not deferred the announcement of the verdict.

What happened?

In the indictment lodged by Public Prosecutor Celal Sarıdere, journalist Deniz Yücel faced charges as per the Article 125 (Offenses against dignity - Insult) of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK).

As the criminal evidence, the indictment cited the open source investigative report and the response from the Border Gates' Bureau Chief's Office dated March 7, 2019. Hasan Yılmaz, the former İstanbul Deputy Chief Public Prosecutor, was the aggrieved party in the indictment.

The remarks made by Yücel in his tweet, over which he was facing up to 2 years, 4 months in prison, were also uttered by him in the statement of defense that he submitted from Germany on May 10, 2019 as part of the main trial where he was on trial for "terror propaganda".

In the related tweet, Yücel first quoted the following passage from his statement of defense and posted it on social media:

"I know Hasan Yılmaz, the Deputy Public Prosecutor who is conducting the 'investigation' against Osman Kavala. He was the man who told me during the interrogation, 'You called [jailed PKK leader Abdullah] Öcalan the "commander in chief". Showing him a copy of the related article published in Die Welt, I said, 'Look, one doesn't need to know German to understand that the German word "Chef"'s equivalent in Turkish is not "commander in chief" but "chief". He just gave me a blank stare. Then, he lodged the thing that he called an 'indictment' in his own way. Then, when a former police chief arrested in Silivri for being a member of the [Gülen] community and knowing Hasan Yılmaz before said in a conversation between us, 'He is the dumbest prosecutor of Çağlayan [Courthouse in İstanbul]'... What should I do? I couldn't object. (The prosecutors of the community were committing the same legal breaches more slyly; it is another story.)"

Sharing the above excerpt from his defense, Deniz Yücel tweeted, "The men who issued the 'Gezi indictment' against Osman Kavala and others and similar other indictments are not only ravenous militants in the guise of prosecutors. They are also... I mean, they are... Look:"

Osman Kavala ve diğerleri hakkındaki "Gezi iddianamesini" ve benzeri iddianameleri düzenleyen adamlar, sadece savcı kılıfında gözü dönmüş militanlar değiller. Aynı zamanda şeyler. Yani baya baya şeyler. Bakınız: pic.twitter.com/63QXap2AYB

— Deniz Yücel (@Besser_Deniz) February 20, 2019

There is another court case filed against Deniz Yücel, as part of which the journalist has been on trial at the İstanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance on charges of "insulting the President" (TCK 299) and as per the Article 301 of the TCK (Degrading the Turkish nation, state of the Republic of Turkey, the organs and institutions of the state).

Having served a year behind bars in Turkey, Yücel was also previously sentenced to 2 years, 9 months, 22 days in prison for "terror propaganda".

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(HA/SD)