Yasin Kobulan, İstanbul – 21 people affiliated with Gün Printing House faced terrorism charges at a Silivri court today. Gün Printing House was the publisher of now-defunct pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgürlükçü Demokrasi, which was shut down by government decree.
Today’s hearing focused on the defense statements of the defendants. Relatives of the defendants, members of the press and various politicians were present in the courtroom to observe the proceedings. Kasım Zengin, the owner of Gün, noted that other publishing houses in Adana and Ankara which also printed Özgürlükçü Demokrasi had not faced the level of judicial scrutiny experienced by Gün. He also defended the activities of Gün, remarking that "The newspaper has a tax certificate and we as Gün Printing House, have a commercial relationship with it. They make their own preperations and we print it. The procedures are completely legal."
Zengin went on to explain that “Özgürlükçü Demokrasi takes up around 5% of our work in general. I reject all accusations. Our printing house is not any way related to any organisation. Özgürlükçü Demokrasi is distributed by Yaysat and Turkish Airlines (THY) throughout Turkey. Our relationship with the newspaper is the same with Yaysat's and THY's.” The three-person panel of judges asked Zengin why Gün printed the newspaper in the middle of the night, leading Zengin to explain that "All daily newspapers are printed between 5 PM and 12 AM." Having challenged the justification for his detention, Zengin stated that he has been detained unlawfully for 6 months and requested his immediate release.
İrfan Karaduman, an employee of Gün, then took the floor to repeat that the publishing house’s activities were entirely legal. He went on to note that "We don't really look into the content of the work. We don't read them."
Mahmut Abay, Gün’s digital assembler, then rose to state that "I only check if the job is legal or not - that means to see if their ISBN and ISSN banderoles are legitimate. I reject all accusations. I only worked there for a living and I am only an employee."
Cemal Tunç, a moulding machine expert for Gün, explained to the court that Gün printed four or five other newspapers in addition to Özgürlükçü Demokrasi, noting that they were all legal publications.
Erdoğan Zamur challenged the accuracy of the prosecution’s indictments. “We only care if the newspapers were printed clearly. I have been working here since 2007, however the prosecution claims that I started in 2015. That is because they want to imply that I have some association with the newspaper which we started printing in 2015. I have been an insured employee of Gün Printing House since 2007. I was the one that delivered the newspaper to the Public Prosecution Office. Why aren't they here whilst I am being charged because I printed it?"
Arrested on Suspicions of Enthusiastic Reading
The panel of judges then inquired about a number of banned texts which were found in Zamur’s house. He responded by explaining that "I have over 7 thousand books. I like reading. I read all types of books. I try to transfer my reading habit to my own child.” One judge noted that Zamur was “under arrest because you read so much - that is why I don't.'"
Mehmet Emin Sürmeli followed on from Zamur and continued to challenge the accuracy of the prosecution’s indictments. "I have been a packager in this printing house since 2012. I pack the newspaper, and then they get distributed. It was delivered to both the governor's house and prosecution office. The indictment involves some social media posts and claims that I was the one posting them. I reject all the accusations. I don't even use social media."
Dumped by a Trash Can, Left for Dead
Musa Kaya then rose to deny the accusations that he was affiliated with terrorist organizations. The panel of judges noted that Kaya was arrested in 1995, which inspired a ferocious denial. "I was never arrested. I was kept in police custody for 23 days in Bingöl. I was tortured and then dumped next to a trash can because they thought I was dead. I was hospitalized. There were no legal proceedings about me afterwards."
The final defendant to make a statement was Süleyman Güneş, who explained that that he worked at the printing house because it was near his home. He added that “My father passed away in 2012, I had to work to support my family. I am 80% blind, therefore nobody else employed me."
Upon the completion of the defense statements, the prosecution submitted their final opinion and requested that all the defendants remain in detention. After a short recess, the court ruled to release Necat Hizarcı, Sadettin Demirtaş, Muhammet Özkan, Mehmet Kadir Özkara, Cumali Öz, Süleyman Güneş, Kemal Dağdöğen and Özgür Bozkurt, while also imposing an overseas travel ban on them. The hearing was adjourned until December 3.
Updated: December 5 2018
