Court blocks access to reports about book claiming to reveal corruption in judiciary

Barış Terkoğlu and Barış Pehlivan are facing charges after their new book was published.

In the past two weeks, a court blocked access to news reports about a best-selling book written by two journalists and about a court's finding that a presidential advisor's high school diploma was fake, according to bianet's Media Monitoring Database.

Also, trials of three journalists on several charges including terrorism continued and investigations opened against two journalists.

Here is a summary of the interferences with news media between December 26 and January 8:

A book by two journalists is subject to lawsuits and censorship

Barış Pehlivan and Barış Terkoğlu, two journalists managing the OdaTV news site, published a book titled, "Metastasis 2: The Press" (Metastaz 2: Cendere) at the start of December.

Among best-selling books at several online retailers, the book claims to reveal state corruption at higher levels.

The issues the book covers include an alleged judicial plot against the mayor of İstanbul, framing of the members of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) by a clique within the party, and the cover-up of the murder of a businessperson in Ankara, according to its back cover.

Shortly after the book was published, 14 separate lawsuits were filed against the two journalists. All the criminal complaints against the journalists were filed by two attorneys, who are also mentioned in the book, according to OdaTV. Terkoğlu is facing 63 years and Pehlivan is facing 95 years in total.

On January 6, an İstanbul court blocked access to reports about the content of the book on five different media outlets.

Two of the blocked articles, which were published on İleri Haber and T24 news sites, were about a parliamentary question by independent MP Ahmet Şık, who asked the minister of justice about the allegations of bribery involving Mustafa Doğan İnal, a former lawyer of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Terkoğlu and Pehlivan were previously held in pre-trial detention for three months over a report on the killing of an intelligence officer in Libya.

Access block on a report about a forged diploma

Access to reports about a court decision concluding that the high school diploma of a senior presidential advisor was fake was blocked on the grounds of "violation of personal rights."

An İstanbul court blocked access to 125 web addresses containing the information on December 28.

Hamza Yerlikaya, a retired national wrestler, previously served as an MP from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). He currently holds multiple positions in the government, being a senior adviser to the president, a deputy of the minister of youth and sports and the vice-chair of the management board of the state-run Vakıfbank.

Trials of journalists

Ayten Akgün

Ayten Akgün has been put on trial over a news report titled "Torture in Halfeti," which she shared on Twitter.

At the second hearing held on January 7, Akgün was sentenced to 11 months, 20 days in prison on charge of "insulting the President of the Republic." The pronouncement of the verdict has been deferred.

Pelin Ünker

An investigation was opened against Pelin Ünker, a reporter for Deutsche Welle Turkish, because of a report about a Turkey-based bank's activities revealed in the FinCEN (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network) files, which were leaked from the US Treasury in September.

The investigation started after a criminal complaint by AktifBank, which is owned by Çalık Holding, a group that has close ties to the government.

A court previously blocked access to the article that is the subject of the investigation as well as other news articles about the same issue.

The DW Turkish article titled "Accusation by US banks: Aktif Bank facilitates suspicious transactions" lists some activities by the bank, citing the FinCEN leak.

Müyesser Yıldız and İsmail Dükel

Facing charges of military espionage over their phone calls with their news source, a non-commissioned officer, OdaTV Ankara News Director Müyesser Yıldız and TELE1 TV Ankara Representative İsmail Dükel had their second hearing on January 7.

Both journalists served four months in pre-trial detention before being released after the first hearing on November 9. Erdal Baran, the officer in question, is still remanded in custody.

At Thursday's hearing, a second indictment that was prepared after the first hearing on the charge of "successively obtaining the documents about the security of the state" was merged with the main case.

Can Ataklı

Prosecutors have opened an investigation against journalist Can Ataklı for "inciting the public to enmity and hatred" due to his comments about President and Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

After Ataklı published a video titled, "Erdoğan won't go with an election" on his YouTube channel on Saturday (January 2), he was targeted by pro-government media outlets and social media accounts.

"It doesn't seem possible to me anymore that Erdoğan will leave power with an election," he says in the video. "What does 'He won't leave power with an election' mean? Will there be a coup? I'm one of those who see the possibility of a coup the least likely. There is no ability to make a coup in today's circumstances."

Ataklı is being investigated for "inciting the public into enmity and hatred."

Oktay Candemir

Reporter Oktay Candemir was detained while he was trying to follow a press meeting by the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) in the Kurdish-majority province of Van, eastern Turkey.

Police had not allowed the meeting because of a ban on demonstrations and events.

Charged with "preventing a public official from fulfilling his/her duty," Candemir was acquitted after the third hearing on December 31.

Buse Söğütlü

Buse Söğütlü, a reporter for Gazete Yolculuk, was charged with "marking a counterterrorism official as a target" because of her Twitter posts about Akın Gürlek, the presiding judge of the İstanbul 37th Heavy Penal Court.

"If Hitler came out of his grave, he would utter the same words with Gürlek," she said in a tweet, criticizing his "professional ethics."

In the third hearing on December 30, the court requested a report from the Security Directorate and the National Intelligence Agency (MİT) about whether Söğütlü was involved in the activities of an outlawed organization.

(VK)