Istanbul 12th Assize Court held the first hearing of Evrensel, T24 ve Marksist.org case, following a complaint by Sedat Selim Ay, Istanbul Vice Police Commissioner in charge of Anti-Terror Forces.
Ay sued the aforementioned news organizations called him a “torturer” in their coverage, saying that “he was insulted due to his duty as public worker”.
The hearing was attended by T24 editor Metin Kıvanç Yener, T24 editor-in-chief Ahmet Doğan Akın, Marksist.org editor-in-chief Ozan Tekin, who pleased not guilty. On the other hand, Evrensel newspaper editor-in-chief did not attend the hearing.
“The aforementioned article in the indictment are not exclusively covered by our organization. It appeared in various news outlets. We didn’t include any commentary on the news information and Ay didn’t make any demands on content removal,” Yener said in his defense.
Akın reiterated that the aforementioned article piece was taken from Taraf newspaper.
“The article was grounded by actual facts and there are ongoing and concluded trials against Turkey, as well as remarks by Vice PM Bülent Arınç regarding the issue.”
Tekin, on the other hand, pleaded not guilty, saying that the aforementioned article was a commentary with a journalistic value.
The court ruled that it will investigate whether or not there are any ongoing complaints submitted by Ay on Taraf newspaper.
The next hearing will held on January 30, 2014.
On December 6, 2012, acting upon S. S. Ay’s complaint in September 2012, Istanbul Prosecutor’s Office discontinued charges. Following an objection in January, the case was brought up against the defendants with an indictment by prosecutor Hasan Bölükbaşı.
Previously, S. S. Ay filed complaints against bianet, Taraf, OdaTV, Aydınlık Newspaper and Etkin News Agency (ETHA). Prosecutors issued nolle prosequi in bianet, Taraf, OdaTV and Aydınlık Newspaper cases. However, they launched prosecution against ETHA for “defamation” and “accusation”. (EA/BM)
* Click here to read the original article in Turkish.
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