Prosecution demands acquittal of all defendants in Bloomberg case

Mustafa Sönmez, Merdan Yanardağ and Sedef Kabaş at the first hearing

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The trial of 38 people, including six journalists, because of a 2018 news report on Bloomberg about "the economic crisis and foreign exchange rates" continued today (April 27).

In the ninth hearing of the case at the İstanbul 3rd Penal Court of First Instance, the prosecutor announced their opinion as to the accusations.

Stating that the legal elements of the charged offense of "violating the Capital Market Law" did not occur, the prosecutor demanded the acquittal of all defendants.

CLICK - Court to examine whether Bloomberg journalists made profit through report on currency crisis

Lawyers of the Capital Markets Board (SPK) and the Banking Regulatory and Supervision Agency (BDDK) requested additional time to make statements against the prosecutor's opinion.

Ömer Bayraktar, the lawyer of Bloomberg journalists Kerim Karakaya and Fercan Yalınkılıç, repeated their demand for their acquittal, saying that they agreed with the prosecutor's opinion.

Some other defendants and their lawyers also demanded their acquittal.

Yağızcan Veli, the lawyer of journalist Sedef Kabaş, noted that the case has been continuing since 2019 and it should end in a reasonable time in accordance with the Constitutional Court's principles. He demanded rejection of the SPK and BDDK lawyer's requests for additional time.

Accepting the demands of the SPK and BDDK lawyers, the court adjourned the hearing until April 29.

What happened?

Two reporters for Bloomberg, Kerim Karakaya and Fercan Yalınkılıç, published an article about the Turkish lira's nearly 16 percent loss against the US dollar in a single day in August 2018.

Citing "sources with knowledge of the matter," the report said that the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) had scheduled a meeting with banks to discuss the country's "biggest currency shock" since the 2001 crisis.

After the BDDK filed a complaint regarding the report, prosecutors indicted the reporters, as well as 36 other journalists, economists and others who commented on the article on Twitter, for "trying to weaken the economic order and stability of the state."

The journalists are charged with "information-based manipulation" as per Article 107/2 of the Capital Market Law and failing to fulfill the "obligation of notification" of a financial crime as per Article 102.

The Capial Market Law

Article 102/1: If there is a matter implying any information or doubt that a transaction
constitutes the crimes enumerated in Articles 106 and 107, the investment firms and the capital market institutions to be determined by the Board are obliged to notify this situation to the Board or to other institutions and organisations to be determined by the Board. The Board shall determine the principles and procedures of the obligation of notification.

Article 107/2: Those who give false, wrong or deceptive information, tell rumors, give notices, make comments or prepare reports or distribute them in order to affect the prices of capital market instruments, their values or the decisions of investors, shall be sentenced to imprisonment from two years up to five years and be punished with given a judicial fine up to five thousand days.

(HA/VK)