Journalist Sedat Yılmaz, detained for 7 months based on secret witness statements: "Where are those 'serious crimes'?"

The 4th Heavy Penal Court of Diyarbakır has released the reasoning behind the acquittal of Sedat Yılmaz, the editor of Mezopotamya News Agency and a writer for BIA Children's Library, who was detained for 7 months on charges of "membership in a terrorist organization (Article 314/1 of Turkish Penal Code)" and "establishing and leading an armed terrorist organization (Article 314/2 of Turkish Penal Code)."

The court based its acquittal on the lack of concrete evidence supporting the claims of secret witnesses "Ulaş" and "K8Ç4B3L1T5." It emphasized that the statements of these two witnesses were not sufficient to conclusively prove Yılmaz's membership in an organization.

Journalist Sedat Yılmaz acquitted

29 February 2024

Following the detailed reasoning, Yılmaz commented on the case, saying, "You are detained for seven and a half months, and no one bothers to look at what is in this file. But routinely, every month when my detention was reviewed, they would say 'serious crimes are attributed to him,' and the continuation of detention would be demanded. Now I think, where are those 'serious crimes'? Of course, there is no one to ask this question to. They can keep you in custody for months, attributing serious crimes without anyone looking into the file. The suffering, pressure, and injustice you experience are additional. What can I say, hopefully, this will be the end for me and all my colleagues in the same situation."

Other trials

In addition to the witness K8Ç4B3L1T5, who played a role in Yılmaz's case, the same witness is also involved in other trials, including the one where journalists Diren Yurtsever, Deniz Nazlım, Berivan Altan, Selman Güzelyüz, Hakan Yalçın, Emrullah Acar, Ceylan Şahinli, Habibe Eren, Öznur Değer, and Zemo Ağgöz, as well as Mehmet Günhan, are being tried in Ankara. The witness is also part of the trial of Dicle Müftüoğlu in Diyarbakır.

Apart from Zemo Ağgöz and Mehmet Günhan, the seven journalists in the Ankara trial were imprisoned for seven months based on the statements of the secret witness in the indictment. Dicle Müftüoğlu was detained for ten months. In all three trials, the statements of the witnesses were contradictory. In the Ankara trial, the witness claimed to work at Mezopotamya News Agency but provided incorrect information about the employees and where they were stationed. She admitted that her information was not concrete and based on hearsay. In the case of Dicle Müftüoğlu, she couldn't provide any specific date, place, or organization name in response to the allegations.

Similarly, secret witness Ulaş has been a witness in numerous cases, from trials involving Kurdish journalists to politicians, including the Kobanê Trial and the trial against SES executives. He began giving statements in 2019 and is still testifying almost every day in court. Many arrests have been made based on Ulaş's statements.