Three executives from Turkey’s left-leaning BirGün newspaper were sentenced to prison time and judicial fines over a news report, though they were acquitted of more serious charges of targeting individuals for terrorist organizations. The case is widely seen as part of an ongoing crackdown on critical journalism in Turkey.
MLSA - At the third hearing of the case held on Oct. 22 at the 23rd High Criminal Court in Istanbul, the court sentenced BirGün’s Chair of the Board İbrahim Aydın to 11 months and 20 days in prison. Publishing Coordinator Uğur Koç and Managing Editor Yaşar Gökdemir were each fined 34,400 Turkish lira (approximately $1,250) for “targeting a public official.” All three journalists were acquitted of the charge of “targeting individuals for terrorist organizations.”
The charges stem from a February 7, 2025, news story titled “Pro-government Sabah visits Akın Gürlek in his office”, which was published on BirGün’s website. Gürlek is a controversial judge known for presiding over high-profile political trials in Turkey.
In his defense statement, Uğur Koç said he had written the story and shared it on BirGün’s social media accounts. “We are being prosecuted for doing journalism,” he said. “The prosecutor only refers to a post on X [formerly Twitter]; it seems he didn’t even read my testimony.” Koç argued that there was no concrete basis for the charge of “insult” and rejected the claim that the article targeted Gürlek. “His rulings can be accessed through a simple Google search. Public officials are subject to criticism,” he said. He also pointed out that Sabah, a pro-government daily, had published the same story without facing legal consequences. “So it’s a crime only when we publish it?” he asked, demanding his acquittal.
Managing Editor Yaşar Gökdemir explained that the phrase “mobile guillotine” in the article was a quote from CHP leader Özgür Özel and was clearly attributed as such. He noted that the same phrase appeared in Sabah’s reporting. Gökdemir also mentioned that the state-run Anadolu Agency had published numerous stories about Gürlek without facing legal action. He likewise demanded acquittal.
İbrahim Aydın, chair of BirGün’s board and a journalist for decades, told the court this was the first time he had stood trial at a high criminal court over a single news report. “That alone is enough to describe the current climate,” he said. “This is a serious threat to journalism.”
The journalists’ lawyer, Ali Deniz Ceylan, argued that in similar cases, journalists had previously been acquitted, and those rulings were upheld by higher courts. He emphasized that Gürlek is a public figure and that his identity is already publicly known. “The legal elements of the alleged crime are not present,” Ceylan said.
The court ultimately fined Koç and Gökdemir for “targeting a public official.” The verdict against Gökdemir was deferred, while Aydın’s sentence was not suspended.
According to the indictment prepared by the Terror Crimes Investigation Bureau of the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, the article contained language that was “offensive, degrading, and damaging to reputation.” Prosecutors had sought up to five years in prison for each of the defendants.
