Rabia Çetin
An Istanbul court on Monday acquitted all 66 defendants, including journalist Zişan Gür, who were prosecuted after being detained while covering protests in Istanbul's Saraçhane district.
The ruling came at the third hearing in the case before the Istanbul 26th Criminal Court of First Instance. Gür, a reporter for the news website Sendika.org, and the other defendants had been charged with "participating in an unlawful meeting or demonstration without weapons and refusing to disperse despite warnings."
The hearing, which was moved to the courtroom of the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court because of limited space, began about 10 minutes late. Numerous defense lawyers attended, along with plainclothes police officers.
After the defendants' identities were confirmed, the prosecutor said the Istanbul Governor's Office's ban on demonstrations and public events that was in effect at the time had since been annulled and requested the acquittal of all defendants.
Asked to make their final statements, the defendants present in court reiterated their previous statements and requested acquittal. Defense lawyers said they agreed with the prosecutor's opinion on the merits and likewise sought the acquittal of their clients. Proceedings were briefly interrupted after a technical malfunction affected the SEGBİS video hearing system, preventing lawyers from making submissions.
Following the defendants' final statements, the judge recessed the hearing for 15 minutes before returning to announce the verdict, acquitting all defendants individually.
