Another Arrest Warrant Issued for Musician Tunç

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Two hearings of the cases of musician Ferhat Tunç were held yesterday (September 18) at Büyükçekmece Courthouse in İstanbul.

The hearing of the case where Tunç is under trial for "provoking people into enmity and hatred" was held at Büyükçekmece 4th Penal Court of First Instance. The court decided that the musician's statement should be taken through letters rogatory as he is abroad. The hearing was adjourned to February 14, 2020.

In the other case where the musician is under trial for "insulting the president," Büyükçekmece 14th Penal Court of First Instance issued an arrest warrant. The hearing was adjourned to December 4.

"We won't ask for justice from this judiciary. Because it protects the interests of the fascist AKP-MHP alliance. In Turkey, the notions of law and justice are meaningless in practice," Tunç said.

"From the beginning, they thought they could make me surrender, trying to produce crimes out of my social media posts. When I refused to surrender, they increased the number of the cases and prepared fabricated indictments," he added.

"I believe Turkey will get rid of this shame of judiciary. This will happen by founding the democratic front and extending the democratic struggle. Back to back arrest warrants are non-existent for me."

Lawsuits against Ferhat Tunç

Having four lawsuits against him because of his posts on social media, Tunç is facing a total of 15 years prison term.

He was detained when he returned from Germany on January 13, then released after giving testimony.

Ferhat Tunç was sentenced to 1 year, 11 months, 2 days in prison for "propagandizing for a terrorist organization" by the İstanbul 36th Heavy Penal Court over his social media posts on September 25, 2018.

After this sentence, another case was filed against Tunç for "insulting the President". Büyükçekmece Public Prosecutor's Office in İstanbul launched an investigation into the ten tweets that Tunç posted in 2016. The bill of indictment it prepared was accepted by the Büyükçekmece 7th Penal Court of First Instance. The trial is continuing.

There are also two investigation files against Tunç at the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.

Speaking to bianet about the investigation, attorney Fatma Hopikoğlu stated that there are two separate investigations launched against the musician and added that they have not been informed about the details:

"There are two separate investigations against Tunç at Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor's Office. One of them is about his remarks during a statement for the press regarding the devastation of Sur (in Diyarbakır).

"Though the nature of this statement was about the protection of historical artifacts, an investigation was launched against him for 'propagandizing for a terrorist organization.' This investigation consists solely of this statement."

(AÖ/VK)