New lawsuit against journalist Deniz Yücel

* Photo: Roberto Bulgrin (Deniz Yücel / Twitter)

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has lodged a new indictment against journalist Deniz Yücel, Die Welt newspaper's former representative to Turkey. Yücel is now facing 6 months to 2 years in prison on charge of "degrading the State of the Republic of Turkey, its government, judicial bodies and the security organization of the state".

In the indictment, the Prosecutor's Office has recalled that Yücel was sentenced to 2 years, 9 months, 22 days on charge of "propagandizing for a terrorist organization" by the İstanbul 32nd Heavy Penal Court. It has been also noted that Yücel, charged with "provoking the public to hatred and hostility" in the same trial, was acquitted of this charged offense.

The indictment has indicated that while the Press Law foresees a 6-month period to file a lawsuit, this period starts when the prosecutor's office is informed of the issue. Accordingly, it has been said that the articles and news of Yücel were notified to the office on September 11, 2020.

As the indictment lodged by the prosecutor's office has been accepted, the trial will start at the İstanbul Penal Court of First Instance on July 1.

What happened?

Deniz Yücel was taken into custody in Turkey on February 14, 2017 over his news reports concerning the hacking of the then Energy Minister Berat Albayrak's email account by RedHack. He was arrested by the court on February 27, 2017 on charges of "propagandizing for a terrorist organization" and "provoking the public to hatred and hostility."

Speaking about the issue, President and Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan briefly said:

"This man is a terrorist, not a journalist and unfortunately the German government lumps my ministers together with this terrorist. The problem lies here. German Chancellor Angela Merkel told me 'We would be glad if you free him'. I told her he is not a journalist but a terrorist. Deniz Yücel hid in the German Consulate General. This man is a terrorist, not a journalist".

Deniz Yücel stayed behind bars for nearly a year. Following the indictment issued against him, the İstanbul 32nd Heavy Penal Court ruled for the release of Deniz Yücel on February 16, 2018. Yücel went to Germany after he was released from prison in Turkey.

While he was still arrested, Yücel made an individual application to the Constitutional Court. His file was examined by the top court two years after the incident, on June 28, 2019. The Constitutional Court concluded that his one-year imprisonment violated his rights and ruled that he should be paid 25 thousand lira in non-pecuniary damages. However, the local court ruled that his statement taken in Berlin should be awaited.

At the hearing held on February 13, 2020, the prosecutor announced the opinion as to the accusations and demanded that Deniz Yücel be sentenced to 15 years, 3 months in prison. It was alleged that Deniz Yücel, with some articles published in Die Welt, "propagandized for the Kurdistan Workers Party / Kurdistan Communities Union (PKK/KCK)."

Announcing its ruling at the final hearing on July 16, 2020, the court ruled that Yücel should be acquitted of "provoking the public to hatred and hostility and sentenced him to 2 years, 9 months, 22 days in prison for "propagandizing for the PKK/KCK armed terrorist organization" via the press.

The court also ruled that a criminal complaint should be filed against Deniz Yücel over his two articles published in Die Welt in 2016 on the grounds that he allegedly "insulted the President" and "degraded the State of the Republic of Turkey, its government, judicial bodies and the security organization of the state" as per the Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK). (HA/SD)