Put on trial upon a senior military officer's complaint, journalist sentenced to prison

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The high criminal court has handed down its ruling in the trial of Ahmet Kanbal, a reporter for the Mezopotamya Agency (MA).

The lawsuit was filed against the journalist upon the criminal complaint of Musa Çitil, who had been put on trial over 13 unidentified murders, but was acquitted and led the Sur operation in Diyarbakır and has been later promoted as Gendarmerie Deputy General Commander.

The Aydın 3rd High Criminal Court has ruled by a majority of votes that Ahmet Kanbal shall be sentenced to 1 year, 3 months in prison for "marking a counterterrorism official as a target". While he has been acquitted of "insulting a public official", his prison sentence has not been deferred.

'My freedom of expression is put on trial'

As reported by the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA), the final hearing of the case held today (March 3) was attended by Ahmet Kanbal and his lawyer Erdal Kuzu from southeast Mardin province via video conference on the Audio and Visual Information System (SEGBİS).

At the hearing not attended by complainant Musa Çitil, the prosecutor reiterated the previous opinion as to the accusations and requested that Kanbal be penalized for "targeting a counterrorism official."

Making his defense as to the accusations, Kanbal also reiterated his previous defense statements and said that he had quoted a news report published by another fellow journalist and that he had posted this news article on his social media account as a journalist.

Kanbal said that he posted the related message with the aim of conveying news and that he did not have the intention of targeting or insulting.

Ahmet Kanbal recalled that due to the public duty he has assumed, Musa Çitil is a publicly known person, adding that detailed information as to the biography and duties of Çitil so far have been shared on the official website of the General Command of Gendarmerie.

Noting that Çitil also faced a lawsuit over 13 murders and rape that happened in Turkey's southeastern province of Mardin in the 1990s, Kanbal said that several news reports about this court case were also published in the national and local press with his picture.

Kanbal recalled that seven journalists had been put on trial in Turkey's Kurdish-majority southeastern province of Diyarbakır on the same charge upon the complaint of Çitil, but the journalists have been acquitted by the local court and their acquittal has been upheld by the appeals court.

Concluding his defense, Ahmet Kanbal said, "What is put on trial here in this case is journalistic activities and my right to freedom of expression. The posts are not of criminal nature. I request my acquittal."

Taking the floor after his client, lawyer Erdal Kuzu also referred to the news reports published by a series of national newspapers and news websites about both the news report in question and the unidentified murders in the 1990s. Erdal Kuzu emphasized that the social media post of Ahmet Kanbal was a part of his journalistic activities, he did not post the related message with intentions of targeting or insulting Çitil and requested Kanbal's acquittal by underlining that Musa Çitil, as a public official, shall tolerate all types of criticism more than a normal citizen.

Prison sentence

Following a brief recess, the court board, by a majority of votes, has ruled that journalist Ahmet Kanbal shall be sentenced to 1 year, 3 months in prison on charge of "marking a counterrorism official as a target".

While one of the judges at the court board expressed a dissenting opinion, saying that Kanbal should have been penalized for "insulting a public official", Kanbal has been acquitted of this charge. As the court has not come to the conclusion that Kanbal "will not commit crimes again", neither the sentence nor the pronouncement of the verdict has been deferred.

Ahmet Kanbal's lawyer Erdal Kuzu has indicated that the ruling is against both the law and the due process and announced that they will appeal against it by applying to the İzmir Regional Court of Justice.

CLICK - Journalist faces prison sentence for sharing an article about a senior military officer

Not the first court case against journalists

Musa Çitil previously filed a lawsuit against eight people, including seven journalists, and alleged that they targeted him by sharing the news reported on the operation that he led in Sur, Diyarbakır when he was the Diyarbakır Gendarmerie Regional Commander. The news report in question was entitled "The siege is called 'Flag 12', it is led by Musa Çitil."

Announcing its ruling, the court board has ruled that the following journalists shall be acquitted of the offense charged: News Director of Dicle News Agency (DİHA) closed by a Statutory Decree Ömer Çelik; DİHA reporters Çağdaş Kaplan, Hamza Gündüz and Selman Çiçek; journalist A. Vahap Taş; Managing Editor of closed daily Özgür Gündem İnan Kızılkaya and Grant Holder of the newspaper Kemal Sancılı. Put on trial along with the journalists, social media user S.G. has also been acquitted.

CLICK - 7 Journalists Acquitted of Targeting a Senior Army Officer

Çitil appealed against the verdict of acquittal. The 2nd Chamber of the Diyarbakır Regional Court of Justice, the appeals court, upheld the verdict.

What happened?

It was revealed in July 2020 that specialist sergeant Musa O. had abducted and raped İ.E. for 20 days. İ.E. attempted suicide, leaving a letter behind about what happened. She lost her life on August 18, in the hospital where she had been treated since July 16.

After finding İ.E.'s letter, her family filed a complaint against Musa O, who was taken into custody on the same day.

In the interview subject to the complaint, Human Rights Association (İHD) Co-Chair Eren Keskin said that the security forces used sexual abuse and violence as a policy of war. Saying that similar incidents happened in the past, he cited the case of Ş.E., who was sexually assaulted by security officers in the Kurdish-majority province of Mardin in 1993.

"... the family had moved abroad. They reached me, they were in a very bad situation. We received their application and filed a criminal complaint. A lawsuit was filed against Musa Çitil and the 405 soldiers under his command," İHD Co-Chair and lawyer Eren Keskin said.

Quoting her words, journalist Ahmet Kanbal wrote, "The place that Eren Keskin points should be looked at: Years before Musa O., there was Musa Çitil. He was a commander in Mardin in the 1990s. He was put on trial without an arrest for sexual assault against Ş.E. and he was acquitted. Years later, he was a commander in Sur, Diyarbakır."

CLICK - On Trial for "Unidentified Murders of 13 Villagers", Now He's a Major General

(HA/SD)