Justice delayed again: Late journalist Aydın Engin wins the ‘press card’ lawsuit

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

Prominent journalist Aydın Engin, whom we lost on March 24, 2022, has won the lawsuit that he filed against the Presidency's Communications Directorate for failing to renew his permanent press card. The Ankara 18th Administrative Court has found the late journalist right.

Following an amendment to the press law regulation in 2018, the Directorate did not renew Engin's permanent press card, which he had been holding since 2001. In response to this, the journalist filed a lawsuit against the Communications Directorate in 2020.

While the administrative court in the capital city handed down its ruling on January 27, the ruling was notified to his lawyer Tora Pekin when Aydın Engin was in hospital. The ruling of the administrative court put an emphasis on the Constitution and the rule of law.

The administrative court also cited the provisions of the press card regulation canceled by the 10th Chamber of the Council of State on October 21, 2021 and said: "That being the case, the act of rejection of the defendant administration is devoid of a legal foundation".

The court ruling noted that "the principles of certainty and legal security" as required by the rule of law prevent the administration from acting arbitrarily and concluded that the failure of the Presidency's Communications Directorate to renew the press card do not comply with the principle of legal security or with the principles of legal certainty and consistency.

Further in its ruling, the administrative court also referred to the Directorate's citing of the prison sentence of 7 years, 6 months given to Aydın Engin in the trial of Cumhuriyet columnists and executives.

In the face of this defense presented by the Directorate, the court recalled that the verdict in question was overturned by the Court of Cassation.

Emphasizing that the Court of Cassation demanded a ruling of acquittal as to the merits, the court also noted that in the justification of the ruling handed down by the İstanbul 27th High Criminal Court, the local court, there was no judgment as to the press card of Aydın Engin.

"In other words, as it is understood that no action has been taken as of January 18, 2019, the aforementioned allegation of the Communications Directorate was not taken into account", the ruling added.

RSF: Even though it is late...

After the ruling was reported in the news, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Representative to Turkey Erol Önderoğlu has said:

"The Ankara 18th Administrative Court has acknowledged Aydın Engin, a journalist for 53 years who has recently lost his life at the age of 81 and was stalled by the Communications Directorate until he left us by not giving him his permanent press card, to be right. Even though it is late now, the ruling says, 'The action of the administration shall be canceled...'"

Engin spoke to bianet

In 2020, Aydın Engin first applied to the Communications Directorate about the issue; with his application remaining inconclusive, he filed a lawsuit against the Directorate. Speaking to bianet when he applied to the administrative court, Engin said, "I have been a journalist for 51 years and I have had a permanent press card for 25 years. This is an acquired right. No official institution can take my card back without a reasonable justification".

Noting that new cards started to be distributed to journalists following this amendment, Engin underlined that "the failure to give critical journalists their press cards, saying that they are 'under review', shows that the Directorate of Communications is committing a crime against this acquired right".

"Press cards are not tools of show-off for journalists. It is a tool that enables us do our jobs," Engin told bianet and continued as follows:

"A press card is a business tool that we use to fulfill the requirements of our profession and, for over two years now, the Directorate of Communications has not been giving me this right, which I acquired years ago.

"I have been a journalist for 51 years. I started doing this job seven years before Communications Director Fahrettin Altun was born. And I have had a permanent press card for around 25 years. This is an acquired right. No official institution can take this back without a reasonable justification.

"But the Communications Directorate has denied me this right in the Justice and Development Party (AKP) rule. And I applied to the Communications Directorate to demand this right, I could not get a response. Unable to receive any response, I have filed a lawsuit.

"Fahrettin Altun says that the number of applications currently in the evaluation process is 894. But what have they been reviewing for two years? We are not even offered an excuse. Our applications remain unanswered. Fahrettin Altun and his men are reviewing whether I and other people like me are journalists or not. This would make a matter in dispute in itself.

"What review are you talking about? A review that takes two years means, 'We have rejected you, we are not giving you your card, but we cannot declare it officially.' This is the government's method of hindering journalists. They are making it difficult for me to do my job." (HA/SD)