Journalist Nazlı Ilıcak asked for acquittal during the hearing, while Ahmet Altan’s lawyer recalled the European Court of Human Rights ruling that found rights violations in his case.
MLSA – A verdict has been announced in the retrial of journalists Ahmet Altan and Nazlı Ilıcak at the Istanbul 26th High Criminal Court following a reversal ruling by the Court of Cassation. The court sentenced Ahmet Altan to 4 years and 6 months in prison and Nazlı Ilıcak to 3 years and 9 months in prison on the charge of “aiding an armed terrorist organization.”
The hearing began with Nazlı Ilıcak and the defendants’ lawyers present in court. Ahmet Altan did not attend the hearing.
In her defense statement responding to the prosecutor’s final opinion on the merits, Ilıcak said she was innocent and requested acquittal. Ilıcak said:
“First of all, I request my acquittal. If you are of a different opinion, I request that you impose a sentence that will not cause me to return to prison.”
Recalling the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) rulings regarding her case, Ilıcak said she was being tried over a file for which the ECHR had stated that her detention was not necessary. She added that she had already spent three years and three months in prison because of this case.
Ahmet Altan’s lawyer, Figen Albuga Çalıkuşu, also referred to the ECHR ruling in her defense statement against the prosecutor’s opinion on the merits.
“In the ECHR’s 2021 ruling regarding my client, it is stated that the rights to freedom of expression and to liberty and security of the person were violated,” Çalıkuşu said. “In line with the rulings of the Court of Cassation and the ECHR, my client should be acquitted. The elements of the crime attributed to my client have not been formed in this file.”
When asked for her final words, Ilıcak said:
“I believe I am innocent and request my acquittal.”
After the defense statements, the court recessed the hearing to deliberate. When the session resumed, the court announced its ruling, sentencing Altan and Ilıcak to prison for “aiding an armed terrorist organization.”
Course of the case
On Feb. 16, 2018, the Istanbul 26th High Criminal Court sentenced six defendants — including Ahmet Altan, Mehmet Altan and Nazlı Ilıcak — to aggravated life imprisonment for the charge of “attempting to overthrow the constitutional order through force and violence.”
The decision was upheld as lawful by the 2nd Criminal Chamber of the Istanbul Regional Court of Justice, an appellate court. However, after the case was appealed, the 16th Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation overturned the sentences.
The Court of Cassation ruled that the actions of Ahmet Altan and Nazlı Ilıcak constituted “knowingly and willingly aiding a terrorist organization,” rather than “violating the Constitution.” The chamber said there was no evidence proving that the two defendants had participated as perpetrators in the crime of violating the Constitution.
The court also stated that Mehmet Altan, who had previously been released following a ruling by Turkey’s Constitutional Court finding a violation of his right to liberty and security, should be acquitted due to a lack of sufficient and convincing evidence.
The chamber further concluded that the actions of defendants Şükrü Tuğrul Özşengül, Fevzi Yazıcı and Yakup Şimşek constituted “membership in an armed terrorist organization,” rather than “attempting to overthrow the constitutional order."
