Trials After Covid-19: Nineteen Reporters to Appear Before Court in Four Days

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Suspended hearings since mid-March due to coronavirus, courts will start operating after June 15 and will do the most intense work of recent times between June 22 and 26 in terms of trials of journalists.

In the four-day period, 19 journalists will stand trial for reporting on issues such as "the funeral of a National Intelligence Organization (MİT) officer," "the Çorlu train derailment case," "President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's wife Emine Erdoğan's Hermes bag," "Minister of Finance and Treasury Berat Albayrak's emails obtained by RedHack," "the military operation in Syria's Afrin," "ISIS capturing the Makhmur Refugee Camp."

"Çorlu" case against Rıfat Doğan

The first case of the week is expected to be heard on June 23 against Rıfat Doğan, a reporter for Artı Gerçek news site. The case is based on the allegation that Doğan took a photograph in the courtroom during a hearing of the Çorlu train derailment case on July 3, 2019.

Saying that he didn't shoot a photograph or a video, Doğan stated that he only shared the footage he obtained. The journalists had refused to pay 900 lira (~132 USD) of an administrative fine in advance for the case dated October 22, 2019, to be abated.

Four months of jail term in advance against six journalists

The case about the reports on the funeral of a MİT officer who lost his life in Libya and was laid to rest in Manisa province, because of which Odatv News Director Barış Terkoğlu, Odatv Editor-in-Chief Barış Pehlivan, Odatv reporter Hülya Kılınç, Yeni Yaşam newspaper Managing Editor Aydın Keser and Yeniçağ columnist Murat Ağırel are remanded in custody is a case coming to the fore.

İstanbul 34th Heavy Penal Court will start to judge the journalists, whose requests for a release have been systematically rejected, according to Article 329/1 of the Turkish Penal Code Article and Article 27 of the Law on State Intelligence Services and the National Intelligence Organization. Also, BirGün newspaper columnist Erk Acarer, who is abroad and has an arrest warrant against him, and E.E., an employee at the press unit of the Republican People's Party's (CHP) Akhisar District Municipality, will be tried without arrest.

Prosecutor requested 15 years of a prison sentence for Deniz Yücel

İstanbul 32nd Heavy Penal court continued the trial of Deniz Yücel, a Turkey reporter for the Die Welt newspaper who served more than a year behind bars starting from February 2017. Charged with "propagandizing for the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and "provoking people into animosity and hatred," Yücel was facing 18 years of imprisonment. In the hearing on February 13, Veysel Ok, the attorney of Deniz Yücel, requested time to prepare their defense as to the accusations against the prosecutor's opinion, where he requested a prison sentence of 15 years and 3 months for the journalist.

In the hearing that is expected to take place on June 24, attorney Veysel Ok is expected to submit their defense as to the accusations. Previously deferred to April 2, the hearing was postponed to June 24 as part of coronavirus measures. In the defense statement he sent through Germany's authorities, Yücel stated that he was subjected to torture at Silivri Prison.

"Emine Erdoğan case" against Ender İmrek

On the same day, a third hearing will be held at İstanbul Bakırköy 2nd Penal Court of First Instance. Ender İmrek, a columnist for Evrensel newspaper, will stand trial for "defamation" over an article titled, "The Hermes bag was shining..." on Emine Erdoğan's Hermes brand bag and the trial of CHP İstanbul Chair Canan Kaftancıoğlu.

His attorney Yıldız İmrek reacted to the investigation, saying, "The unfair distribution of income and the rulers' luxury consumption have been criticized. The matter of criticism is related to the public interest, it is within the framework of freedom of the press as the public observer."

In the article dated June 29, 2019, it was said, "Lady Emine introduced Turkey to the whole world with her bag... Lady Canan with her hearing, her stance..." The columnist also asked, "Those who went down in history with their shoes, bags, wardrobes, those who brag about their palaces, the reputation of their palaces did not have a good impression at all among people. Isn't it useful to draw a lesson from history?"

Sabiha Temizkan is charged with "provocation"

İstanbul 35th Heavy Penal court will judge journalist Sabiha Temizkan for "provoking people into animosity and hatred" over a tweet where she said, "Makhmur camp has been captured by ISIS."

Temizkan was summoned to give a statement on February 13 over the tweet in 2014. The Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) has undertaken her defense and Temizkan pleaded not guilty.

"RedHack" case against six reporters

Another hearing on the same day is of the case regarding the reports on RedHack's interception of the emails of Berat Albayrak, the son-in-law of Presiden Erdoğan and the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources at the time of the incident.

Diken news site editor Tunca Öğreten, ETHA news manager Derya Okatan, Yolculuk newspaper manager-in-charge Eray Saygın, DİHA reporter Metin Yoksu, DİHA news manager Ömer Çelik and BirGün newspaper employee Metin Yoksu are on trial for "membership of an illegal organization," "disrupting informatics system" and "propagandizing for an illegal organization." In February, attorneys of the journalists submitted their defense statement and the court removed the international travel ban against Okatan and Sargın.

Broadcast on the Afrin operation

Ankara 15th Heavy Penal Court will continue to judge Artı TV Ankara representative Sibel Hürtaş, who brought Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) to the screen during a broadcast on the Afrin operation, and journalist Hayri Demir, who criticized the operation on social media. Previously, the journalists' request for the lift of the international travel ban against them was rejected.

In the hearing on June 26, the defendants except Hürtaş are expected to submit their final defense statements.

The court did not take into account the amendment to Article 7 of the Anti-Terror Law that was made in October 2019 with the First Judiciary Package. The sentence "The statements of thought that do not exceed the limits of reporting or criticism do not constitute a crime" was added to the article. (EÖ/AS/VK)

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