Journalists Face 22.5 Years in Prison, Their Hearings Last Five Minutes
Click to read the article in Turkish
Ayşegül Doğan, the Program Coordinator of the closed İMC TV, and Yusuf Karataş, a columnist for the daily Evrensel, had their hearings at the Diyarbakır 9th Heavy Penal Court yesterday (September 11).
The journalists are charged with "establishing and leading an armed terrorist organization" on the ground of discussion panels, conferences and interviews that they attended as part of their journalistic activities. Both Doğan and Karataş face up to 22 years, 6 months in prison.
After five-minute hearings yesterday, the board of the Diyarbakır 9th Heavy Penal Court has adjourned the next hearings to December 25.
Lawyer of Doğan: Voice records not legally obtained
While Ayşegül Doğan did not attend her third hearing, her lawyer Mehmet Emin Aktar indicated that the voice records allegedly captured in the Democratic Society Congress (DTK) building were not legally obtained.
Upon the request of her lawyer, the court has ruled that a writ shall be written to Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor's Office to acquire information on the exact date when the journalist was added as a suspect to the investigation file on the DTK. The court has also ruled that Ayşegül Doğan shall apply to the İstanbul Forensic Medicine Institute for a comparative analysis of the voice records presented as evidence to the court.
Karataş: Injunction turned into penalization
Yusuf Karataş, a columnist for the Evrensel newspaper, also had his sixth hearing yesterday. Announcing his opinion as to the accusations, the prosecutor demanded that the current judicial control measures on Karataş continue and the answer of the Diyarabakır Chief Public Prosecutor's Office regarding a report on voice records be awaited.
CLICK - Evrensel Newspaper Columnist Karataş Released
The court has ruled that the judicial control measures on Yusuf Karataş shall continue to be in effect. It has also ruled that a writ shall be written to the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor's Office to ask the date when the journalist was added as a defendant to the case file.
In his statement at court, the journalist requested the removal of judicial control measures in following words: "I am a journalist. The statements that I made about the party have been cited as speeches on the terrorist organization. I also request that the international travel ban imposed on me due to the file against me be removed, because I am a journalist. It is preventing my professional activities and, at this stage, this injunction has turned into penalization for me." (HA/SD)
* Source: MLSA and Mezopotamya Agency
